Neuroinflammation Biomarkers in the AT(N) Framework Across the Alzheimer's Disease Continuum
A. Bieger, Adriano Pereira Rocha, B Bellaver, Luiza Santos Machado, L Da Ros, W V Borelli, Joseph Therriault Therriault, A.C. Macedo, T A Pascoal, Serge Gauthier, P. Rosa-Neto, E R Zimmer
Abstract
In the past years, neuroinflammation has been widely investigated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Evidence from animal, in vivo and post-mortem studies has shown that inflammatory changes are a common feature of the disease, apparently happening in response to amyloid-beta and tau accumulation. Progress in imaging and fluid biomarkers now allows for identifying surrogate markers of neuroinflammation in living individuals, which may offer unprecedented opportunities to better understand AD pathogenesis and progression. In this context, inflammatory mediators and glial proteins (mainly derived from microglial cells and astrocytes) seem to be the most promising biomarkers. Here, we discuss the biological basis of neuroinflammation in AD, revise the proposed neuroinflammation biomarkers, describe what we have learned from anti-inflammatory drug trials, and critically discuss the potential addition of these biomarkers in the AT(N) framework.