Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Little is known about how Alzheimer's disease (AD) plasma biomarkers relate to cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) neuroimaging biomarkers. METHODS: The study involved 251 Wake Forest Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Exam 6 participants with plasma AD biomarkers, MRI, amyloid PET, and adjudicated cognitive status. Multivariable models examined cross-sectional relationships between plasma and neuroimaging biomarkers, considering comorbidities. RESULTS: Lower Aβ42/Aβ40, and higher GFAP, NfL, and p-tau217 were associated with greater neurodegeneration. Lower plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and higher p-tau217 and p-tau231 were associated with greater Aβ PET deposition. NfL was positively associated with WMH and WM Free Water. P-tau measures were positively associated with WM Free Water. Lower Aβ42/Aβ40 was associated with presence of microbleeds. GFAP was positively associated with WMH. DISCUSSION: We observed expected associations of plasma biomarkers with cognitive status and imaging biomarkers. GFAP, NfL, p-tau181, p-tau217, and p-tau231 are associated with cSVD in addition to AD-related pathology.