Archives

ULSAM is a unique, ongoing, longitudinal, epidemiologic study based on all available men, born between 1920 and 1924, in Uppsala County, Sweden. The men were investigated at the ages of 50, 60, 70, 77, 82 88 and 93 years. The reinvestigations in ULSAM were based on the previous investigations. Full screening and official registry data is available in our databases and more data is continuously added.

Health examination at 93 years of age was carried out between December 2013 and March 2015. To this examination 245 men have been invited. Totally 147 men (60%) participated in the investigation. Of these, 23 men were examined at the hospital and 102 were visited at home by a nurse. In addition, 22 men completed only a questionnaire. To this examination even spouses were invited. In the complete examination 43 spouses have participated and 11 completed only a questionnaire.

The Parkinson’s Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI) is an observational, international study designed to establish biomarker defined cohorts and identify clinical, imaging, genetic and biospecimen Parkinson’s disease (PD) progression markers to accelerate disease modifying therapeutic trials. A total of 423 untreated PD, 196 Healthy Control (HC), 64 SWEDD (scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit) subjects, and 65 Prodromal subjects (individuals with hyposmia or REM Sleep Behavior Disorder) were enrolled. PPMI is actively enrolling affected and unaffected individuals with genetic mutations in LRRK2, GBA, or SNCA through the end of 2018. For the most up to date enrollment numbers, please visit http://www.ppmi-info.org/study-design/study-cohorts/. To enroll PD subjects as early as possible following diagnosis, subjects were eligible with only asymmetric bradykinesia or tremor plus a dopamine transporter (DAT) binding deficit on SPECT imaging. Acquisition of data was standardized as detailed at www.ppmi-info.org.

The LRRK2 Cohort Consortium (LCC) comprises three closed studies: the LRRK2 Cross-sectional Study, LRRK2 Longitudinal Study and the 23andMe Blood Collection Study. The LCC followed standardized data acquisition protocols, and clinical data and biological samples are stored in a comprehensive Parkinson’s database and biorepository, respectively. A total of 1,213 Idiopathic PD subjects, 1,168 PD subjects with genetic mutations in LRRK2, 1,123 unaffected subjects with genetic mutations in LRRK2, and 779 Healthy Controls (HC) were recruited.

The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging was designed to establish a prospective population-based cohort of subjects to study prevalence, incidence and risk factors for MCI and dementia. The study was conducted in Olmsted County, where several factors enhance the feasibility of population-based epidemiologic research. Most residents seek care within the community from essentially 2 providers, the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center, along with their affiliated hospitals and medical facilities within the county. Both healthcare providers use a unit medical record which includes all outpatient and inpatient information for each patient. The study began October 1, 2004, and recruitment is ongoing to maintain a sample size of about 3,000 active participants. Participants are randomly selected from the Olmsted County population using a sex and age-stratified sampling scheme. Selected participants are invited to participate; exclusion criteria are persons who are in hospice or terminally ill or demented, but recruitment of persons with dementia began in 2015. Nearly 6,000 participants have been recruited to date. At the onset of the study, only 70-89 year olds were eligible. Recruitment of 50-69 year-olds began in 2012, and recruitment of 30-49 year olds began in 2014. Followup is performed every 15 months for 50 yrs and older; every 30 months if younger than 50 years by face-to-face visits in the Center, in-home, or by phone for a minority who decline either of the two but still would like to participate. Medical records are reviewed is used to identify prevalent and incident medical conditions (e.g. vascular diseases such as diabetes, hypertension) and incident dementia cases among persons lost to follow-up.

This project comprises of two complementary parts. One part is aimed at the development of innovative diagnostic techniques to detect molecular signatures of AD based on disturbances of amyloid metabolism and glutamate neurotransmission. In this part, the focus is on the two most promising diagnostic approaches in AD: (molecular) imaging techniques and molecular diagnostic tests of CSF. In the second part of this study, techniques for which proof-of-concept has been found in humans are applied in a large group of AD patients. These patients are recruited in an established network of 4 collaborating memory clinics in The Netherlands, which use a standardized diagnostic protocol and share an extensive common database. Furthermore, more mature molecular, structural, and functional imaging and molecular diagnostic CSF techniques as well as the conventional diagnostic work-up will be applied from the start of the study in patients from the same network of memory clinics.

Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia in older people. The aim of LewyPro is to examine and characterise symptoms and brain changes during the prodromal period of LBD. Earlier diagnosis is important because it facilitates care planning, leads to earlier treatment of cognitive symptoms and enables earlier identification of other symptoms, including parkinsonism.

Lewy Pro is recruiting a group of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and prodromal symptoms suggestive of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and following them up annually to assess biomarker changes and clinical course. The initial assessment will include a detailed clinical assessment, a blood sample, a lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid, and a DaTSCAN.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The EADC-PET project (EAPP, The European Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium PET project) is a spontaneous multicentric study (ProtocolDraftSep2008; ProtocolDraftFeb2009) involving at the moment five Centres in four Countries (CENTRES), belonging to the EADC consortium. It was launched during the EADC meeting in Amsterdam, during fall 2007, by Flavio Nobili (Genoa) who is the Principal Investigator.

The project aims at sharing FDG-PET, MRI, neuropsychological, genetic, EEG and clinical information of patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) and matched healthy controls. Information is uploaded in a safe FTP facility on the server of University of Genoa. Username and password have been provided to all participants. Use of data is regulated by a ‘Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement’ that can be downloaded from this web site (Confidential_Disclosure_Agreement). The Centres propose original studies by sending a formal proposal to all participants who can agree or disagree, or propose modifications/suggestions to the original proposal.

The objective is to follow-up aMCI patients with clinical and neuropsychological examinations to pick up conversion to Alzheimer’s dementia or to other forms of dementia. FDG-PET can be analyzed by means of several post-processing strategies to highlight glucose metabolic information and to identify the characteristics of what is today called ‘prodromal’ AD.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The ADC was setup in 2004 by including all patients who come to the Alzheimer Center for diagnostic work up and who consent to give all data, collected as part of the routine diagnostic work up, for research. The aim is and was to facilitate research into new and existing biomarkers in the broadest sense, to establish diagnostic, prognostic and theragnostic values and further insight into the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative dementias. The data are collected on a weekly basis and consist of baseline data and annual follow up data. Since it is conception it has grown into one of the largest clinical databases in the dementia field. More info on setup, characteristics and data collection can be found in van der Flier WM, Pijnenburg YA, Prins N, Lemstra AW, Bouwman FH, Teunissen CE, van Berckel BN, Stam CJ, Barkhof F, Visser PJ, van Egmond E, Scheltens P.

Optimizing patient care and research: the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort. J Alzheimers Dis. 2014;41(1):313-27. doi: 10.3233/JAD-132306. PubMed PMID: 24614907.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Swedish BioFINDER Study consists of four cohorts where patients are included prospectively and followed longitudinally (www.biofinder.se). At baseline, these individuals undergo detailed and standardized cognitive, neurological and psychiatric examinations. Plasma, blood, CSF and samples for cell biology studies are collected. Most also have also undergone advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and in many of the non-demented cases Amyloid and Tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging have also been done.

The subcohorts include:
i) Healthy volunteers. Ca 350 volunteers aged 60-100 years old from the population-based Malm’ EPIC cohort (380 participants as of Feb 2016). Follow-up time: at least 8 years with investigations repeated every second year. In this cohort, appr. 20% is expected to have preclinical AD.
ii) Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD). Ca 500 patients with MCI/SCD aged 60-80 years. Follow-up time: at least 6 years with investigations repeated every year. In this cohort, appr. 50% is expected to have prodromal AD.
iii) Patients with different dementia disorders. We include ca 250 dementia cases aged 40-100 years with AD, VaD, DLB, PDD or FTD. Follow-up time: at least 2 years with investigations repeated every year.
IV) Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD-related disorders. Ca 300 patients with Parkinson-like symptoms. Follow-up time: at least 6 years with investigations repeated every year.

Last Update 21/09/2017

AIBL is a study of over 2,000 people assessed over a long period of time (over 10 years) to determine which biomarkers, cognitive characteristics, and health and lifestyle factors determine subsequent development of symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

The baseline inception cohort consisted of:
i. 211 individuals with AD as defined by NINCDS-ADRDA (McKhann et al, 1984);
ii. 133 individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
iii. 768 healthy individuals without cognitive impairment. This group included volunteers with at least one copy of the ApoE ?4 allele, volunteers without a copy of the ApoE ?4 allele and 396 volunteers who expressed subjective concern about their memory function.

The enrichment cohort consists of:
i. 142 individuals with AD
ii. 220 individuals with MCI
iii. 582 individuals with without cognitive impairment.

The data was collected through clinics and questionnaires.

Last Update 21/09/2017