Maternal dementia age at onset in relation to amyloid burden in non-demented elderly offspring.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational imaging study
PubMed 26973104 · doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2015.12.013
What was done
Brain amyloid-beta deposition was measured using (11)C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography in 147 non-demented older adults (mean age 75 ± 8 years). Researchers assessed parental family history (FH) of dementia and parental age of dementia onset (AO) to examine associations with global cortical PiB retention. No participant had both positive maternal and paternal family history.
What was found
Individuals with maternal FH had significantly higher global cortical PiB retention than those with no FH. PiB retention in the maternal FH group was not significantly higher than in the paternal FH group, and paternal FH was not significantly different from no FH. Younger maternal dementia AO was significantly related to greater PiB retention in offspring, while younger paternal AO was not. The abstract reported no specific numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that maternal transmission and earlier maternal onset of dementia are linked to preclinical brain amyloid burden in offspring, which may help identify non-demented individuals at higher biological risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Limits
The study is a cross-sectional observational analysis with a modest sample size (n = 147). The abstract does not provide numerical data, confidence intervals, or p-values. Maternal FH was not significantly different directly from paternal FH, and potential confounders like APOE genotype are not mentioned in the abstract.
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