Background: Limbic predominant age related TDP-43
encephalopathy (LATE) is a newly proposed term to denote
the contribution of transactive response DNA-binding pro-tein
of 43 kDa (TDP-43) pathology to dementia at older age. The
aim of this work was to study the role of LATE in cognitive
impairment and its risk factors in the oldest old (those ≥
90years old).
Methods: 240 participants of The 90+ Study with comprehensive
clinical, neuropsychology, and neuropathology data
were included. Dementia status, clinical syndrome, and
impaired cognitive domains were determined at multidisciplinary
post-mortem case conferences blind to autopsy
data. Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology (ADNP) was defined
as CERAD neuritic plaque score≥2 and Braak neuro-fibrillary
tangle stage≥5. We defined LATE as those with at least
amygdala and hippocampal TDP-43 pathology (stage>2). We
explored the association of LATE and of ADNP with cognition
measures by logistic regression ana-lyses adjusting for age, sex,
and education. We separately explored the association between
medical histories (as potential risk factors) and LATE and
ADNP as outcomes adjusting for the above covariates.