Down Syndrome Biomarker Initiative (DSBI) (DSBI)

Down Syndrome Biomarker Initiative: A Natural History Study of Alzheimer's Disease in Down Syndrome (Pilot Study)

Non-randomized natural history study involving 12 subjects with Down Syndrome, who are aged 30-60 years old. This study will observe 3 different groups: four non-demented subjects between ages 30-40 years old, four non-demented subjects between ages 40-50 years old, and four demented subjects 50-60 years old.

Currently available longitudinal data in DS suggest a high rate of transition to dementia from the late 40s through the early 50s of these individuals. This, together with the universal presence of plaques in DS by their mid 40s makes this age range ideal for studying the development of AD.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Down Syndrome; Alzheimer's Disease

Detailed Description

The overall goal of this project is to determine the relationships among the clinical, cognitive, imaging, genetic and biochemical biomarker characteristics of the entire spectrum of Alzheimer's disease (AD), as the pathology evolves from normal aging through very mild symptoms, to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), to dementia in adults with Down syndrome. This is a pilot study modeled after the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) to inform the neuroscience community of AD in DS, identify diagnostic and prognostic markers, identify outcome measures that can be used in clinical trials, and help develop the most effective clinical trial scenarios.

AD is the most common dementia in humans and over the next decades will account for a major and increasing morbidity and mortality in the US and worldwide. AD is usually a sporadic disease and the commonly accepted hypothesis as to its etiology is the amyloid cascade hypothesis. There is tremendous activity in the pharmaceutical industry and academia directed towards development of disease modifying treatments, most commonly targeting amyloid, but also tau and other mechanisms. Most efforts are directed towards Mild to Moderate AD or prodromal AD with relatively little work on prevention of AD due to various challenges, including identification of healthy people who would be treated.

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disorder in humans, caused by triplication of chromosome 21, accounting for ~1/740 live births in the USA even with routine prenatal screening. In addition to mental retardation and the other classical signs of DS, 100% of people with DS will develop the pathological hallmarks of AD (plaques and tangles) by their 40s and ~80% of people with DS will eventually develop clinical dementia. The primary cause is the triplication of the APP gene on chromosome 21, resulting in 50% greater levels of both APP mRNA and protein. That the disease in DS is indeed AD is supported by pathological, molecular, in-vitro, biomarker and clinical evidence.

People with DS have been followed at major centers in the US and EU for decades with large amounts of clinical and psychometric data gathered and analyzed. There is, however, very little data on CSF biomarkers due to the difficulty of performing lumbar punctures in DS subjects. Only recently has data begun to be gathered from imaging modalities, including Amyloid imaging.

There is no gold standard for the diagnosis of AD in this population and, due to the MR, the standard instruments cannot be used. Most major centers have developed specific instruments that can follow cognitive and functional performance and allow the detection of dementia. The data gathered over the past decades allows the construction of a curve describing the transition to dementia in this population and shows the transition beginning in the mid 40s with a steep slope around the age of 50.

DS is, in effect, a population highly enriched for people who will, with a very high probability develop AD, and it is expected that only with an ADNI-like study can the investigators better understand the trajectory of transition to dementia in this population.

The ultimate goal of this project is to develop treatments for the prevention of AD in this population. Because if the investigators would know at what age the slope of transition to dementia is steepest, a study could be done in a specific age range and require much fewer subjects and time and expense than a study in the general population (where it is currently impossible to determine which healthy individuals will likely develop dementia over the next few years and even if there were, thousands would have to be screened to ID these few). A study in the general population might need to enroll tens of thousands of subjects to observe sufficient transitions to dementia. The investigators estimate that such a study in DS would require about 170 subjects per arm for a 36 month study. Success in such a study would provide the confidence to commit the resources for a larger study in the general population.

As mentioned above, there is minimal CSF data and imaging is only beginning. Thus biomarkers for AD in DS are less developed than in the general population. Additional biomarkers could be helpful in studying AD in DS. A biomarker that could increase the ability to predict transition to dementia in an individual (as opposed to the investigators current ability on a population level) would increase the efficiency of any study. The ability to track the progression or improvement of dementia might also be useful. If a biomarker indicated transition to dementia earlier than any clinical instrument, a prevention study could conceivably be conducted at younger ages with greater chance of success. In addition to DS, such a biomarker would also be useful in the general population.

This study is a pilot study for a larger scale biomarker study which, as described, would enable better understanding of biomarkers and the natural history of AD in DS.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 12

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • La Jolla, California, United States, 92037
      • University of California, San Diego

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 30 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Community sample

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male and female subjects 30 to 60 years of age inclusive with chromosome karyotype of Down Syndrome due to Trisomy 21.
• Subjects must have a study partner (parent or other reliable caregiver) who has at least 10 hours of contact and who agrees to accompany the subject to all clinic visits and provide information about the subject's behavior and symptoms.
• Participant is able to speak/communicate.
• Subject is willing and has no contraindications to MRI scanning.
• Participant or parent/legal guardian provides consent.
• Participant must agree to allow for indefinite storage of his/her data and samples.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who are anarthric or mute.
• Patients who do not meet the criteria for the diagnosis of DS.
• Patients unwilling or unable to participate in all tests and procedures.
• Unstable medical or behavioral issues.
• Unable or unwilling to perform MRI and/or PET imaging.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Control
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Non-demented; Ages 30-40; Four non-demented Down syndrome patients between the ages of 30-40 years old
Non-demented; Ages 40-50; Four non-demented Down syndrome patients between the ages of 40-50 years old
Demented; Ages 50-60; Four demented Down syndrome patients between the ages of 50-60 years old

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Rate of decline as measured by cognitive, functional and behavioral tests	3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Rate of conversion will be evaluated among all age groups	3 years
Rate of volume change of whole brain, hippocampus, and other structural Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures.	3 years
Rates of change on each specified biochemical biomarkers	3 years
Rates of change of glucose metabolism as measured by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging	2 years
Extent of amyloid deposition as measured amyloid PET imaging	3 years
Rates of change on retinal amyloid measures.	3 years
Correlations among biomarkers and cognitive change.	3 years
Correlations of Tau deposition as measured by 18F-AV-1451 PET (Tau) imaging with other biomarkers	1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Michael Rafii
• Collaborators: Janssen Research & Development, LLC
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Michael S. Rafii, MD, PhD, University of California, San Diego

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Jonsson T, Atwal JK, Steinberg S, Snaedal J, Jonsson PV, Bjornsson S, Stefansson H, Sulem P, Gudbjartsson D, Maloney J, Hoyte K, Gustafson A, Liu Y, Lu Y, Bhangale T, Graham RR, Huttenlocher J, Bjornsdottir G, Andreassen OA, Jonsson EG, Palotie A, Behrens TW, Magnusson OT, Kong A, Thorsteinsdottir U, Watts RJ, Stefansson K. A mutation in APP protects against Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline. Nature. 2012 Aug 2;488(7409):96-9. doi: 10.1038/nature11283.
• Netzer WJ, Powell C, Nong Y, Blundell J, Wong L, Duff K, Flajolet M, Greengard P. Lowering beta-amyloid levels rescues learning and memory in a Down syndrome mouse model. PLoS One. 2010 Jun 3;5(6):e10943. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010943.
• Roe CM, Mintun MA, Ghoshal N, Williams MM, Grant EA, Marcus DS, Morris JC. Alzheimer disease identification using amyloid imaging and reserve variables: proof of concept. Neurology. 2010 Jul 6;75(1):42-8. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181e620f4.
• Zigman WB, Lott IT. Alzheimer's disease in Down syndrome: neurobiology and risk. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2007;13(3):237-46. doi: 10.1002/mrdd.20163.
• Rafii MS, Wishnek H, Brewer JB, Donohue MC, Ness S, Mobley WC, Aisen PS, Rissman RA. The down syndrome biomarker initiative (DSBI) pilot: proof of concept for deep phenotyping of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in down syndrome. Front Behav Neurosci. 2015 Sep 14;9:239. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00239. eCollection 2015.

Helpful Links

• Related Info

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 15, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): April 15, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 16, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 19, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): May 20, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 2, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 1, 2017
• Last Verified: May 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: amyloid; biomarkers; Alzheimer's disease; tau; Down syndrome
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurocognitive Disorders; Disease; Congenital Abnormalities; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Intellectual Disability; Dementia; Tauopathies; Abnormalities, Multiple; Chromosome Disorders; Syndrome; Alzheimer Disease; Down Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: DSBI

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No