Journal Article

Association of rapid eye movement sleep latency with multimodal biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

Stankeviciute, Laura, Cavaillès, Clémence, Lucey, Brendan P., Winer, Joseph, Chen, Jiong, Yaffe, Kristine, Jin, Jiangli, Peng, Dantao, Leng, Yue, Zhou, Xiao, Gao, Song

2025

Overview

INTRODUCTION Sleep disturbances are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), but the relationship between sleep architecture, particularly rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and AD/ADRD biomarkers remains unclear. METHODS We enrolled 128 adults (64 with Alzheimer's disease, 41 with mild cognitive impairment [MCI], and 23 with normal cognition [NC]), mean age 70.8 ± 9.6 years, 56.9% female, from a tertiary hospital in China. Participants underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG), amyloid β (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET), and plasma biomarker analysis: phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 (p‐tau181), neurofilament light (NfL), and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). RESULTS After adjusting for demographics, apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 status, cognition, and comorbidities, the highest tertile of REM latency was associated with higher Aβ burden (β = 0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.03 to 0.13, p = 0.002), elevated p‐tau181 (β = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.13, p = 0.002), and reduced BDNF levels (β = ‐0.47, 95% CI: –0.68 to –0.13, p = 0.013), compared to the lowest tertile. DISCUSSION Prolonged REM latency may serve as a novel marker or risk factor for AD/ADRD pathogenesis. Highlights Rapid eye movement latency (REML) may be a potential marker for Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) pathogenesis. Prolonged REML was associated with higher amyloid beta (Aβ) burden, phosphorylated tau‐181 (p‐tau181), and lower brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Intervention trial is needed to determine if targeting REML can modify AD/ADRD risk. Slow‐wave sleep was not associated with AD/ADRD biomarkers.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subject: Adults / Aged / Alzheimer Disease - blood / Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology / Alzheimer's disease / amyloid beta / Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism / Apolipoproteins / Biological markers / biomarker / Biomarkers / Biomarkers - blood / Brain / Brain research / Brain-derived neurotrophic factor / Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - blood / Cognition / Cognitive Dysfunction - physiopathology / Cognitive impairment / Dementia / Demography / Disease / Electroencephalography / Electromyography / Eye movements / Female / Hospitals / Humans / Integrated software / Latency / Male / Medical history / Memory / Middle Aged / Mild cognitive impairment / Neurofilament Proteins - blood / Neuroimaging / Older people / Pathogenesis / Pathology / Pathophysiology / Polysomnography / Positron emission tomography / Positron emission tomography (PET) / rapid eye movement latency / REM sleep / Restless legs syndrome / Risk factors / Sleep / Sleep apnea / Sleep deprivation / Sleep disorders / Sleep, REM - physiology / tau Proteins - blood / Tomography