Revealing the heterogeneity of plasma protein and cognitive decline trajectory among Mild Cognitive Impairment patients by clustering of brain atrophy features

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is suggested to be a heterogeneous disorder, but limited studies explore the heterogeneity of the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) stage. This study aimed to tackle such problems using the CIMLR (Cancer Integration via Multikernel Learning) algorithm to cluster brain structural features extracted from T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance Images of MCI patients from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The demographic and cognitive results, characteristics of brain structural features, plasma biomarkers, and longitudinal cognitive trajectory were analyzed for each cluster. The CIMLR clustering analysis revealed four distinct clusters. Cluster 1 is the oldest group but has had mild atrophy and moderate progression with elevated Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 2 level; and low Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and CD40 Ligand levels. Cluster 2 showed the highest risk for aggressive MCI progression, with abnormal Leptin, Adiponectin, and Creatine kinase-MB values. Cluster 3 exhibited a low level of Monokine Induced by Gamma Interferon and mild atrophy that shared similar patterns with Cluster 1. Cluster 4 represented the healthiest group during longitudinal tracking, with the mildest Parahippocampal atrophy, which was found to be positively correlated with cognitive impairment and amino acid levels. The longitudinal analyses showed the potential of Hepatocyte Growth Factor as a marker for slow cognitive impairment; Cortisol and Neurofilament Light Polypeptide as prognosis markers for aggressive MCI progression. These findings may lay out new suggestions for further research contributing to the accurate diagnosis and precision medicine for dementia and AD.