Association between transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa type and cognitive resilience to Alzheimer's disease: a case-control study.

Association between the transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43), its newly described types (type α/type β), and resilience to Alzheimer's disease neuropathological change (ADNC) defined as preservation of normal cognitive functioning despite advanced ADNC has been evaluated in this case-control study of 63 older adults. Twenty-one resilient to ADNC individuals were matched 1:2 to nonresilient (Alzheimer's dementia) using propensity scores, accounting for age at death, neuritic plaque density, and neurofibrillary tangle stage. Resilient and matched nonresilient participants were similar in terms of gender, apolipoprotein E ε4 carriership, education, occupation, AD, and other pathologies. Resilient participants had lower frequency of TDP-43 co-pathology compared to nonresilient (19% vs. 62%, p = 0.002). Among TDP-43-positive cases, TDP-43 type α inclusions were absent in resilient to ADNC participants and were dominant in matched nonresilient cases (65%, p = 0.03). TDP-43 and TDP-43 types appear to be one of the key pathological determinants of loss of cognitive resilience to ADNC and hence are important in the understanding of the clinical expression of ADNC.