Using Fractional Anisotropy Imaging to Detect Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease among Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites: A HABLE Study.

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequently occurring neurodegenerative disease; however, little work has been conducted examining biomarkers of AD among Mexican Americans. Here, we examined diffusion tensor MRI marker profiles for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in a multi-ethnic cohort. METHODS: 3T MRI measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) were examined among 1,636 participants of the ongoing community-based Health & Aging Brain among Latino Elders (HABLE) community-based study (Mexican American n = 851; non-Hispanic white n = 785). RESULTS: The FA profile was highly accurate in detecting both MCI (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.99) and dementia (AUC = 0.98). However, the FA profile varied significantly not only between diagnostic groups but also between Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that diffusion tensor imaging markers may have a role in the neurodiagnostic process for detecting MCI and dementia among diverse populations.