Prevalence of LATE-NC Explored in Seniors, Alzheimer Disease

MONDAY, June 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy neuropathologic change (LATE-NC) is seen in almost 40 percent of brains with Alzheimer disease neuropathologic change (ADNC), according to a study published online June 13 in Acta Neuropathologica.

Peter T. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., from the Sanders‑Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and colleagues compiled neuropathologic, genetic, and clinical data from 13 high-quality community- and population-based longitudinal studies, including a total of 6,196 participants, to examine the prevalence of LATE-NC across the full range of ADNC.

The researchers found that among the 6,125 participants with available CERAD neuritic amyloid plaque score data, 39.4 percent had autopsy-confirmed LATE-NC of any stage. Of the brains with frequent neuritic amyloid plaques, 54.9 percent had comorbid LATE-NC compared with 27.0 percent of brains with no detected neuritic amyloid plaques. Brains with LATE-NC had relatively more severe primary age-related tauopathy in the subset of individuals with Tha1 Aβ phase = 0 (lacking detectable Aβ plaques). Cognition tended to be worse with LATE-NC across the full spectrum of ADNC severity in the 10 cohorts with detailed neurocognitive assessments close to death.

"These data are interpreted to indicate that LATE-NC, with or without comorbid ADNC, is highly prevalent and impactful in persons of advanced age," the authors write.

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