# Cerebral tau deposition and comorbid cerebrovascular disease across the Alzheimer's disease continuum in Mexican Americans

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 2024 · $2,919,399

## Abstract

SUMMARY: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) disease burden is anticipated to affect
diverse ethnic and racial groups disproportionately with the most staggering increase of nearly 6-fold impacting
Hispanics. Nonetheless, there is a lack of scientific research on Hispanic adults, particularly among the most
populous Mexican American (MA) demographic, fostering a poor understanding of the mechanisms contributing
to the observed disparities. Tau deposition is strongly linked to cognitive decline in AD and can be visualized in
vivo with sensitive and specific positron emission tomography (PET) tracers such as 18F-MK-6240. Data from
our team and others indicates that artificial intelligence (AI) methods that quantify tau deposition patterns specific
to AD may optimize detection of early disease risk and better predict cognitive decline. Unfortunately, few studies
have been conducted in diverse cohorts, which limits generalizability and may precipitate further inequities in AD
diagnosis and treatment. In addition, gaps remain in our understanding of the impact of mixed dementia
pathologies on cognition. AD and cerebrovascular (CVD) commonly co-occur, and may have a larger impact on
disease presentation in MA adults relative to non-Hispanic white (NHW) adults due to socio-economic disparities
and broader social determinants of health (SDoH) that increase cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). We now
propose to develop and validate traditional and novel tau PET imaging and CVD measures in longitudinal cohort
of 500 MA older adults (N=150 cognitively unimpaired (CU), N=150 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), N=200 AD
dementia) from the South Texas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Nantz National Alzheimer's
Center. We will assess the diagnostic accuracy of traditional and AI-derived tau PET indices and examine their
associations with longitudinal cognitive decline (Aim 1). We also evaluate associations between the tau PET
measures and ADRD plasma biomarkers in order to facilitate efforts to utilize blood-based biomarkers for initial
diagnostic screening and clinical trial stratification. Next, we will evaluate the interactive effects of tau and CVD
burden on cognition and will employ causal interference modeling to elucidate the pathways linking SDoH and
modifiable CVRFs with ADRD (Aim 2). Leveraging the resource of harmonized clinical and neuroimaging data
on 200 NHW adults from the Nantz National Alzheimer's Center, we will examine the hypothesis that ethnic
disparities in ADRD will be mediated through these pathways. Finally, we will validate our imaging and plasma
biomarker findings in an independent sample of 1,000 Hispanic and 1,000 NHW older adults participating in the
community-based HABS-HD study (Aim 3). Our proposal will provide important insights into the diagnostic
accuracy of traditional and novel tau PET measures. We will further examine the overlay of tau pathology with
broader ADRD neuroimaging and blood biomarkers...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10984576
- **Project number:** 1R01AG085571-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Mitzi Michelle Gonzales
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $2,919,399
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10984576

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10984576, Cerebral tau deposition and comorbid cerebrovascular disease across the Alzheimer's disease continuum in Mexican Americans (1R01AG085571-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10984576. Licensed CC0.

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