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Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are a global crisis facing the aging population and society as a whole. With the numbers of people with ADRDs predicted to rise dramatically across the world, the scientific community can no longer neglect the need for research focusing on ADRDs among underrepresented ethnoracial diverse groups. The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART; alz.org/ISTAART) comprises a number of professional interest areas (PIAs), each focusing on a major scientific area associated with ADRDs. We leverage the expertise of the existing international cadre of ISTAART scientists and experts to synthesize a cross‐PIA white paper that provides both a concise “state‐of‐the‐science” report of ethnoracial factors across PIA foci and updated recommendations to address immediate needs to advance ADRD science across ethnoracial populations.

The amyloid cascade hypothesis suggests that the aggregation and deposition of amyloid-␤ protein is an initiating event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using amyloid imaging technology, such as the positron emission tomography (PET) agent Pittsburgh compound-B (PiB), it is possible to explore the natural history of preclinical amyloid deposition in people at high risk for AD. With this goal in mind, asymptomatic (n ϭ 5) and symptomatic (n ϭ 5) carriers of presenilin-1 (PS1) mutations (C410Y or A426P) that lead to early-onset AD and noncarrier controls from both kindreds (n ϭ 2) were studied with PiB-PET imaging and compared with sporadic AD subjects (n ϭ 12) and controls from the general population (n ϭ 18). We found intense and focal PiB retention in the striatum of all 10 PS1 mutation carriers studied (ages 35-49 years). In most PS1 mutation carriers, there also were increases in PiB retention compared with controls in cortical brain areas, but these increases were not as great as those observed in sporadic AD subjects. The two PS1 mutation carriers with a clinical diagnosis of early-onset AD did not show the typical regional pattern of PiB retention observed in sporadic AD. Postmortem evaluation of tissue from two parents of PS1C410Y subjects in this study confirmed extensive striatal amyloid deposition, along with typical cortical deposition. The early, focal striatal amyloid deposition observed in these PS1 mutation carriers is often is not associated with clinical symptoms.

Objective We utilized the amyloid imaging ligand Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) to determine the presence of AD pathology in different MCI subtypes and to relate elevated PiB binding to other markers of early AD and longitudinal outcome. Methods Twenty-six patients with MCI – 13 single domain amnestic-MCI (sd a-MCI), 6 multiple domain amnestic-MCI (md a-MCI), and 7 non-amnestic MCI (na-MCI) – underwent PiB imaging. Twenty-three had clinical follow-up [21.2 ± 16.0 (SD) months] subsequent to their PiB scan. Results Using cutoffs established from a control cohort, 14 (54%) had elevated levels of PiB retention and were considered “amyloid-positive.” All subtypes were associated with a significant proportion of amyloid-positive patients (6/13 sd a-MCI, 5/6 md a-MCI, 3/7 na-MCI). There were no obvious differences in the distribution of PiB retention in the na-MCI group despite their atypical early AD phenotype. Predictors of conversion to clinical AD in a-MCI, including poorer episodic memory, increased age, and medial temporal atrophy, were found in the amyloid-positive relative to amyloid-negative a-MCI patients. Longitudinal follow-up revealed 5/13 amyloid-positive patients, but 0/10 amyloid-negative patients, converted to clinical AD. Further, 3/10 amyloid-negative patients “reverted to normal” on follow-up. Interpretation These data support the notion that amyloid-positive patients are likely to have early AD and that the use of amyloid imaging may have an important role in determining which patients are likely to benefit from disease-specific therapies. In addition, our data is consistent with longitudinal studies suggesting that a significant percentage of all MCI subtypes will develop clinical AD.