Developing blood-brain barrier arterial spin labelling as a non-invasive early biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (DEBBIE-AD): a prospective observational multicohort study protocol.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Loss of blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity is hypothesised to be one of the earliest microvascular signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Existing BBB integrity imaging methods involve contrast agents or ionising radiation, and pose limitations in terms of cost and logistics. Arterial spin labelling (ASL) perfusion MRI has been recently adapted to map the BBB permeability non-invasively. The DEveloping BBB-ASL as a non-Invasive Early biomarker (DEBBIE) consortium aims to develop this modified ASL-MRI technique for patient-specific and robust BBB permeability assessments. This article outlines the study design of the DEBBIE cohorts focused on investigating the potential of BBB-ASL as an early biomarker for AD (DEBBIE-AD).

Methods and analysis

DEBBIE-AD consists of a

SUBMITTER: Padrela B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10928768 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature