Plasma lipidome dysregulation in frontotemporal dementia reveals shared, genotype-specific, and severity-linked alterations.

Authors

• Yohannes A Ambaw
• Peter A Ljubenkov
• Shubham Singh
• Abdi Hamed
• Sebastian Boland
• Adam L Boxer
• Tobias C Walther
• Robert V Farese

Language

English

Publication Date

9-1-2025

Journal

Alzheimer's & Dementia

DOI

10.1002/alz.70631

PMID

40922380

PMCID

PMC12417310

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

9-8-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Introduction: Biomarkers are essential for monitoring the progression of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Although dysregulated brain lipid metabolism, particularly sphingolipids enriched in the nervous system, is a key feature of neurodegeneration, plasma lipids remain underexplored as biomarkers compared to imaging and serum proteins.

Methods: We examined plasma lipidomes using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) from individuals carrying pathogenic variants linked to autosomal dominant FTD (GRN, C9orf72, MAPT) and non-carriers.

Results: FTD subjects exhibited increased plasma levels of gangliosides (GM3(d18:1_16:0), GM3(d18:1_24:1)), ceramide Cer(d18:1_23:0), and select polyunsaturated triacylglycerols. In contrast, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE(18:0_24:0) and sphingomyelin (SM(38:0) were reduced. Subtype-specific changes included elevated glucosylsphingosine (GlcSph(d18:1) in GRN carriers, reduced SM(34:1) in C9orf72, and decreased TG(16:0_18:1_20:3) in MAPT carriers. GM3(d18:1_16:0) was consistently elevated across all subtypes. Furthermore, the levels of these lipids correlated with disease severity.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that specific plasma lipid changes, notably several sphingolipids, may be useful biomarkers for FTD disease or progression.

Highlights: Plasma lipidomics reveals both shared and mutation-specific lipid alterations in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Glucosylsphingosine is specifically elevated in FTD caused by GRN mutations and correlates with disease severity. The ganglioside GM3(d18:1_16:0) is consistently elevated across GRN, MAPT, and C9orf72 variants and correlates with disease severity. Plasma sphingolipids emerge as promising biomarkers for FTD diagnosis, subtype differentiation, and disease monitoring.

Keywords

Humans, Frontotemporal Dementia, Male, Female, Biomarkers, Middle Aged, Lipidomics, Genotype, tau Proteins, C9orf72 Protein, Aged, Sphingolipids, Lipids, Severity of Illness Index, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Chromatography, Liquid, biomarker, C9orf72, frontotemporal dementia, GRN, lipidomics, MAPT, sphingolipids

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Ambaw, Yohannes A; Ljubenkov, Peter A; Singh, Shubham; et al., "Plasma lipidome dysregulation in frontotemporal dementia reveals shared, genotype-specific, and severity-linked alterations." (2025). Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications. 249.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/duncar_nri_pub/249