Biomarkers of the Locus Coeruleus Nucleus: Links With Early Tau Pathology, Cognition and Alzheimer's Disease Risk

Recruiting now · Phase 2

Conditions studied: Alzheimer Disease

In brief

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a long-lasting silent phase. Among initial events, emergence of tau pathology in locus coeruleus (LC) brainstem nucleus, well before the one observed in medial temporal cortex, is highly relevant. LC integrity and function can be assessed in vivo with MRI and pupil measures. The current research proposes to evaluate these LC markers in an aged healthy cohort (n=100, with half APOE4 positive) and to relate these markers with cerebral tau pathology, AD risk and cognitive function.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07007208

Run by

University Hospital, Toulouse

People needed

100

Starts

2026-02-02

Expected to finish

2029-01-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-17

Who can join

Age: 60 and older, up to 100. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Participant in the INSPIRE-T cohort
• Normal cognitive assessment
• MMSE score ≥ 27 out of 30 (Mini-Mental State Examination)
• Normal visual abilities (in corrected or uncorrected vision)
• Normal motor skills

You may not qualify if…

• Subjects with a contraindication to MRI exam
• Subjects with a known allergic reaction to the PET radiopharmaceutical ([18F] Flortaucipir) or any of its excipients
• Subjects with an ophthalmological pathology making oculometric measurements difficult
• Subjects with a neurodegenerative condition or a history of cerebral ischemia
• Subjects with a psychiatric disorder and a PHQ-9 score > 10 or under treatment with NRI

Where it is running

• University Hospital of Toulouse — Toulouse, France (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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