Neuropathological measures of increased tau phosphorylation across the Down syndrome lifespan - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #Alzheimer's disease
- #Down syndrome
- #tau phosphorylation
- Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), with nearly all showing AD neuropathology by age 40.
- The study examined phosphorylated tau (p-tau) epitopes (pThr181, pThr217, pThr231) in postmortem brain samples from 98 individuals, including DS with AD (DSAD), late-onset AD (LOAD), young DS, and neurotypical controls.
- Findings showed similar p-tau burdens between DSAD and LOAD, despite DSAD cases being younger on average.
- P-tau burdens were higher in DSAD compared to young DS and neurotypical controls.
- Generalized additive models (GAMs) revealed significant increases in p-tau epitopes at specific ages: pThr231 at 40, pThr181 and pThr217 at 42.
- The study highlights age-associated increases in p-tau epitopes across the DS lifespan, which could inform future biomarker research.