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Aotearoa New Zealand's population is ageing. Increasing life expectancy is accompanied by increases in prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and ageing-related disorders. The multicentre Dementia Prevention Research Clinic longitudinal study aims to improve understanding of AD and dementia in Aotearoa, in order to develop interventions that delay or prevent progression to dementia. Comprising research clinics in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, this multi-disciplinary study involves community participants who undergo biennial investigations informed by international protocols and best practice: clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, lifestyle evaluations, APOE genotyping, blood collection and processing. A key research objective is to identify a 'biomarker signature' that predicts progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD. Candidate biomarkers include: blood proteins and microRNAs, genetic, neuroimaging and neuropsychological markers, health, cultural, lifestyle, sensory and psychosocial factors. We are examining a range of mechanisms underlying the progression of AD pathology (e.g. faulty blood–brain barrier, excess parenchymal iron, vascular dysregulation). This paper will outline key aspects of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinic's research, provide an overview of data collection, and a summary of 266 participants recruited to date. The national outreach of the clinics is a strength; the heart of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinics are its people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Advances in ultra‐sensitive immunoassay methods, like Single molecule array (Simoa) technology, show that Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology can be detected in blood at the earliest stages of AD. This study compared cross‐sectional biomarker profiles for participants from the New Zealand‐Dementia Prevention Research Clinics (NZ‐DPRCs) who spanned the continuum from healthy older adults to a clinical diagnosis of AD. Method: Blood plasma samples were obtained from 253 NZ‐DPRC participants (aged 55 to 87) from their baseline assessment. Participants were classified as cognitively normal adults (CN, n = 34), subjective cognitive decline (SCD, n = 64), non‐amnestic mild cognitive impairment (single and multi‐domain, non‐aMCI, n = 23), amnestic MCI (single and multi‐domain, aMCI, n = 105), and AD (n = 27). Six plasma biomarkers were selected for quantification by the HD‐X Simoa analyser (Quanterix, Billerica, MA; University of Gothenburg, Sweden): AD biomarkers amyloid‐beta peptides (Aß1‐40; Aß1‐42) and phosphorylated tau species (p‐tau181; p‐tau231); neurofilament light (NfL), for general neuronal damage; and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), for astrocyte activation. Clinical, imaging and genetic demographic data were assessed in relation to the plasma biomarkers. Result: Plasma biomarkers across the five groups (figure 1) were assessed by linear regression adjusted for age and sex. P‐tau181, p‐tau231, GFAP and NfL were natural log‐transformed to approximate normality and improve homogeneity of variance. Biomarkers p‐tau181, p‐tau231, GFAP, NfL, Aß1‐42/Aß1‐40 ratio and Aß1‐42, all showed group effects (P < 0.05; Aß1‐40, p<0.08). Tukey's HSD post‐hoc test for pairwise group comparisons showed significant differences in GFAP for AD vs CN, SCD, non‐aMCI as well as SCD vs MCI (P < 0.05); p‐tau181 for AD vs CN and SCD (P < 0.05); p‐tau231 for AD vs non‐aMCI (P < 0.05); Aß1‐42 for aMCI vs CN and SCD (P < 0.05); Aß1‐42/Aß1‐40 ratio for SCD vs aMCI (P < 0.05). ROC analysis will be reported for the diagnostic accuracy of these blood analytes. Conclusion: Simoa‐quantitated blood biomarkers in the NZ‐DPRC cohort differentiates clinical groups spanning the AD continuum cross‐sectionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aotearoa New Zealand's population is ageing. Increasing life expectancy is accompanied by increases in prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and ageing-related disorders. The multicentre Dementia Prevention Research Clinic longitudinal study aims to improve understanding of AD and dementia in Aotearoa, in order to develop interventions that delay or prevent progression to dementia. Comprising research clinics in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, this multi-disciplinary study involves community participants who undergo biennial investigations informed by international protocols and best practice: clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, lifestyle evaluations, APOE genotyping, blood collection and processing. A key research objective is to identify a 'biomarker signature' that predicts progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD. Candidate biomarkers include: blood proteins and microRNAs, genetic, neuroimaging and neuropsychological markers, health, cultural, lifestyle, sensory and psychosocial factors. We are examining a range of mechanisms underlying the progression of AD pathology (e.g. faulty blood-brain barrier, excess parenchymal iron, vascular dysregulation). This paper will outline key aspects of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinic's research, provide an overview of data collection, and a summary of 266 participants recruited to date. The national outreach of the clinics is a strength; the heart of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinics are its people., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2022 The Royal Society of New Zealand.)