In coming years, cases of Alzheimer’s disease are expected to rise exponentially across the United States, and the disease is expected to affect some populations more than others. Hispanics face nearly double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to non-Hispanic whites, according to the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging.
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) scientist Mohamad Habes, PhD, director of the neuroimaging core with the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and associate professor of radiology with the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, was awarded a $16 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging for the study Vascular Imaging Tau and Amyloid in Latinos, or VITAL. It will employ artificial intelligence imaging technology never before used in a Hispanic population to investigate tau protein development, risk factors and potential interventions relevant to this population.
“While the number of Alzheimer’s disease cases is expected to increase nationally, ethnic minorities are anticipated to have a disproportionate burden of disease, with the largest increase among Hispanics. Newer imaging technologies have made it possible to study a specific protein called tau that is strongly linked with Alzheimer’s disease in the brain,” said Habes.
Joining Habes on this study are co-principle investigators Juan B. Toledo Achua, MD, PhD, Houston Methodist Research Institute, and Mitzi M. Gonzales, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
The accumulation of tau protein in the brain is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and can be seen through newer, more sensitive positron emission tomography (PET) tracer imaging technology. Habes’ team will also use artificial intelligence programs to analyze tau deposition to create a system for predicting cognitive decline.
“We are focusing on a recently developed PET tracer called MK-6240, a novel tracer that has not been used in a Hispanic population before. This study is the first to leverage this new tracer and, at the same time, build innovative early-detection tools using deep learning,” Habes said.
Cerebrovascular disease, which can cause inflammation in the brain, often co-occurs with Alzheimer’s disease. Dual diagnosis of these conditions appears to have a greater impact on Hispanic adults compared to non-Hispanic white adults. The team will evaluate if Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular conditions interact and affect cognitive decline.
Habes said Hispanics may have more vascular injury to the brain due to cerebrovascular disease, making them more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is not fully understood why this population is affected more than others.
“The impact of vascular brain injury could interact with tau pathology in the brain and accelerate brain aging in this population. The high-dimensional neuroimaging data and artificial intelligence tools give us a probability score of the amount, or degree, of latent injury to the brain,” Habes said.
Habes’ team will compare standard PET imaging with newer tau imaging and social determinants of health to assess a population of 500 Hispanic participants gathered from the South Texas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Houston-based Nantz National Alzheimer Center.
Researchers will compare the imaging data to Alzheimer’s disease-related blood biomarkers. One goal in Alzheimer’s research is to create a blood test for a simple clinical diagnosis.
After imaging and blood biomarkers are evaluated, the team will validate the findings with a sample of 1,000 Hispanic adults and 1,000 non-Hispanic white adults participating in a separate study.
