CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03663387Updated Oct 20, 2022

PET Measures of CSF Clearance in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease

An observational study in Mild Cognitive Impairment, sponsored by Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 100 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-10-20.

Sponsored by Weill Medical College of Cornell University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
116
Ages
20 Years to 100 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to measure cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clearance. CSF cushions the brain from impact and carries waste products from the brain to the bloodstream. This process is known as clearance. Researchers have considered that impaired clearance of amyloid (a protein) from the aging brain causes buildup of amyloid in the brain and plays a role in increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. However, until recently, there has not been a method to measure CSF clearance. This study will examine CSF clearance using positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, which creates images of structures in the body and their functioning. This study will also measure the amount of two proteins, tau and amyloid, in the brain. Tau and amyloid are proteins that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. An investigational compound (tracer) called [18F]MK-6240 is injected into the blood prior to the scan in order to take images of the CSF clearance and measure tau protein in the brain. This tracer is considered investigational because it is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical use and is only being used for research purposes.

Read the detailed description

The impaired clearance of amyloid-β (Aβ) leading to the accumulation of Aβ plaques and consequent neurodegeneration, is a partially understood mechanistic hypothesis for late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and a tracer for tau lesions, with a low molecular weight that rapidly enters and clears the brain, the investigators developed, replicated, and validated a non-invasive method to estimate the clearance of CSF at ventricular and brain levels. The investigators propose to complete over five years, a 2y longitudinal study designed to test in preclinical AD the hypothesis that reduced CSF clearance measured with the tau tracer [18F]-MK6240 is predictive of: a) future amyloid lesions (PiB-PET or Florbetaben-PET); b) brain atrophy (MRI); and c) cognitive decline.

02

Conditions studied

  • Mild Cognitive Impairment
03

In context

Alzheimer Disease

3,675 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 869 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 116 is below the median of 200 across 751 observational studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.

Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →

Lead sponsor

Weill Medical College of Cornell University is the lead sponsor of 867 studies on the registry; 160 are open to participants now.

Of its 119 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 91 (76%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 100 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

This study will involve male and female volunteer subjects from any racial or ethnic group with a diagnosis normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment. The proposed sample is not intended to be representative of a general population, but it will approximate the samples recruited in NIH and industry sponsored FDA approved clinical trials targeting secondary AD prevention. At this stage of knowledge of human brain CSF clearance, a population based approach was considered premature and over cap funding to support a larger study was not permitted for RFA AG-17-055. Rather, our design uses Aβ enrichment to enable an efficient test of the CSF clearance hypothesis in a clinically relevant group.

Inclusion criteria

  • Male and female subjects between 20-100 years old will be enrolled. Younger subjects are not included as the risk for brain amyloid lesions is too low
  • All subjects will speak English as their first language or demonstrate proficiency in English.
  • All subjects may have normal cognition or cognitive impairment.
  • All subjects will be in good general health and able to participate in the LP and imaging exams. This determination is made by the study neurologist and reviewed at a consensus meeting for each subject.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Uncontrolled hypertension or metabolic disease
  • Neurodegenerative disorders (i.e. Parkinson disease. LBD, or FTD).
  • Long life major depression. Baseline scores ≥20 on Beck Depression Inventory at baseline
  • Long-life DSM-IV axis 1 disorders.
  • Mental retardation.
  • Substance abuse.
  • Concurrent medication limiting validity of neuropsychological tests or imaging.
  • Anti-depressants with anti-cholinergic properties
  • Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOi)
  • Regular use of narcotic analgesics (>2 doses per week).
  • Use of neuroleptics
  • Individuals taking over the counter memory enhancing or protecting medications (e.g. ginkgo biloba, vitamins) are not excluded.
  • Implanted medical devices that are incompatible with MRI imaging.
  • Radiation exposures exceeding annual Rad Worker limits.
  • Heart failure stage D as defined by American Heart Association (7).
  • Chronic kidney disease in stages ≥ 4, as defined per National Kidney Foundation (8).
  • Brain tumor and other neoplastic disorders outside the brain where disease itself or its treatment (radiation, chemotherapy) is likely to affect brain structure or function.
  • Stroke when meeting criteria for total anterior, partial anterior or posterior circulation infarct according to the Oxford Community Stroke Project classification. Patients with clinically silent of lacunar strokes and transient ischemic attacks will not be excluded.
  • Significant head trauma.
  • Hydrocephalus.
  • Hostility or refusal to cooperate
  • Person's receiving chronic anti-coagulation therapy
  • Person's participating in other research projects will be excluded when the other project(s) 1) involve radiation exposure which in combination with the current project would increase radiation exposure above federal guidelines, 2) involve administration of study drug or other experimental therapy, or 3) prohibit participation in other research projects.
  • Participants in this study will be allowed to participate in other observational research studies. The investigators will review at enrollment the full array of projects a subject may be involved in and inform the other PI's to ensure that subject safety and research data integrity is not compromised.
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
116 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Normal subjects

    70

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Percent change in brain amyloid

    Percent change in brain amyloid measured by positron emission tomography

    Time frame: Baseline and 24 Months follow-up

  2. Percent change in cortical ribbon thickness

    Percent change in cortical ribbon thickness measured by magnetic resonance imaging

    Time frame: Baseline and 24 Months follow-up

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Weill Cornell Medicine
    New York, New York 10021, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — All of the individual participant data collected during the trial, after deidentification.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Csr, Analytic code

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 20, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03663387
Lead sponsor
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Collaborators
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 10, 2018
Start date
Jul 30, 2018
Primary completion
Aug 31, 2022
Completion
Aug 31, 2022
Last update
Oct 20, 2022

Study contacts

Mony J de Leon, ED.D.
principal investigator · Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion