Pathologic and clinical correlates of region-specific brain GFAP in Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is an emerging biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with higher blood GFAP levels linked to faster cognitive decline, particularly among individuals with high brain amyloid burden. However, few studies have examined brain GFAP expression to clarify if peripheral associations reflect brain changes. This study aimed to correlate region-specific GFAP mRNA expression (n = 917) and protein abundance (n=386) with diverse neuropathological measures at autopsy in the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project (ROS/MAP) and to characterize the interaction between brain GFAP and brain amyloid burden on downstream outcomes. We assessed GFAP gene expression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus, and posterior cingulate cortex with respect to core AD pathology (amyloid-β and tau), cerebrovascular (microinfarcts, macroinfarcts, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy [CAA]), proteinopathic (TDP-43, Lewy bodies), and cognitive outcomes. These associations were further examined at the protein level using tandem-mass tag proteomic measurements from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We also assessed GFAP interactions with AD neuropathology on downstream outcomes. Cortical GFAP gene and protein expression were significantly upregulated in participants with a neuropathologically confirmed AD diagnosis at autopsy (all P_FDR < 3.5e−4), but not in individuals positive for tau pathology and negative for amyloid pathology (all P_FDR > 0.05). Higher cortical GFAP levels were associated with increased amyloid pathology, CAA pathology, and faster cognitive decline (all P_FDR < 3.3e−3). GFAP’s associations with phosphorylated tau burden and cognition were influenced by amyloid burden, being most pronounced among amyloid-positive individuals, confirming previous in vivo biomarker observations. No associations were observed between GFAP gene expression and outcomes in the caudate nucleus. Our results support previous biomarker findings and suggest that higher brain GFAP levels are associated with higher brain amyloid burden and faster cognitive decline among amyloid-positive individuals.