Robin Wolz, PhD, IXICO, London, UK, shares the findings of an investigation into the impact of race and ethnicity on amyloid-PET results in the GAP Bio-Hermes study. Bio-Hermes was set up to test the performance of blood and digital biomarkers compared to amyloid-PET scans and traditional cognitive tests, generating a head-to-head comparison of a broad set of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers. The study enrolled almost 1000 participants across the AD continuum, of which 24% were from traditionally underrepresented communities. In this analysis, the team assessed differences in amyloid-PET positivity (Aβ+ ) and standardized update value ratio (SUVR) between racial and ethnic groups. Aβ+ proportion was statistically significantly lower in the Black/African American population compared to the White population, yet no significant difference in SUVR results were seen. Dr Wolz comments on the possible reasons for this observation and the new questions raised by this investigation. A key research priority is to understand whether these findings are due to differences in biomarker performance in different racial/ethnic groups or if they can be attributed to confounding variables such as educational attainment or socioeconomic status. This interview took place at the CTAD 2023 conference in Boston, MA.
These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.
