Characterizing the emergence of amyloid and tau burden in Down syndrome

INTRODUCTION: Almost all individuals with Down syndrome (DS) will develop neuropathological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Understanding AD biomarker trajectories is necessary for DS-specific clinical interventions and interpretation of drug-related changes in the disease trajectory. METHODS: A total of 177 adults with DS from the Alzheimer's Biomarker Consortium-Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) underwent positron emission tomography (PET) and MR imaging. Amyloid-beta (Aβ) trajectories were modeled to provide individual-level estimates of Aβ-positive (A+) chronicity, which were compared against longitudinal tau change. RESULTS: Elevated tau was observed in all NFT regions following A+ and longitudinal tau increased with respect to A+ chronicity. Tau increases in NFT regions I-III was observed 0–2.5 years following A+. Nearly all A+ individuals had tau increases in the medial temporal lobe. DISCUSSION: These findings highlight the rapid accumulation of amyloid and early onset of tau relative to amyloid in DS and provide a strategy for temporally characterizing AD neuropathology progression that is specific to the DS population and independent of chronological age. Highlights: Longitudinal amyloid trajectories reveal rapid Aβ accumulation in Down syndrome NFT stage tau was strongly associated with A+ chronicity Early longitudinal tau increases were observed 2.5–5 years after reaching A+.