High prevalence of tau pathologies in late-onset psychosis: A PET study
9 affiliations
- 1Advanced Neuroimaging Center, Institute for Quantum Medical Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, Chiba 263-8555 Japan
- 2Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8507 Japan
- 3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582 Japan
- 4Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-19-18 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-8461 Japan
- 5Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8519 Japan
- 6Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, Nara 634-8522 Japan
- 7Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Center, 578 Hetacho, Midori-ku, Chiba, Chiba 266-0007 Japan
- 8Department of Advanced Nuclear Medicine Sciences, Institute for Quantum Medical Science, Quantum Life and Medical Science Directorate, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, Chiba 263-8555 Japan
- 9Neuroetiology and Diagnostic Science, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Osaka 545-8585 Japan
Abstract
Late-onset psychosis (LOP) exhibits distinct clinical features compared with younger-onset psychosis. Although postmortem and epidemiological studies have suggested an association between LOP and neurodegenerative processes, particularly tauopathies, in vivo evidence remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and non-AD tauopathies in LOP using amyloid PET and tau PET with florzolotau (18F) (18F-florzolotau; also known as 18F-APN-1607 or 18F-PM-PBB3), a tracer capable of detecting a broad range of tau pathologies. Thirty-seven patients with LOP and 47 age-matched controls underwent PET scans with 11C-PiB and 18F-florzolotau to assess group differences in amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau accumulation. Diagnostic effects on regional 18F-florzolotau standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) were assessed. Associations between regional SUVRs and cognitive and clinical features were examined separately in Aβ-positive and Aβ-negative subgroups. Patients exhibited significantly higher positivity rates for both Aβ (13 of 37 patients, 35.1%) and tau (24 patients, 64.9%) than controls (one of 47 controls, 2.1% for Aβ and seven controls, 14.9% for tau). A significant diagnostic effect was observed on regional 18F-florzolotau SUVRs (P = 0.004), with post-hoc analyses revealing increased tracer retention in the parietal cortex. This diagnostic effect remained robust when the analysis was restricted to Aβ-negative participants (P = 0.002). Among Aβ-positive patients, greater parietal tau burden was associated with lower Frontal Assessment Battery scores. In conclusion, this in vivo PET study demonstrated a high prevalence of AD-like and non-AD-like tau accumulation patterns in LOP, suggesting that LOP may be associated with heterogeneous tau-related neurodegenerative processes.
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BibTeX
@article{kubota2026high,
title = {{High prevalence of tau pathologies in late-onset psychosis: A PET study}},
author = {Manabu Kubota and Shin Kurose and Kenji Tagai and Yuki Momota and Masanori Ichihashi and Hironobu Endo and Chie Seki and Sho Moriguchi and Yasuharu Yamamoto and Yuko Kataoka and Ryoji Goto and Takehiro Tamura and Hiroki Shiwaku and Kiwamu Matsuoka and Hisaomi Suzuki and Mitsumoto Onaya and Takahiko Tokuda and Hiroyuki Uchida and Hidehiko Takahashi and Kazunori Kawamura and Ming-Rong Zhang and Makoto Higuchi and Keisuke Takahata},
journal = {Molecular Psychiatry},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1038/s41380-026-03749-3},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03749-3},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - High prevalence of tau pathologies in late-onset psychosis: A PET study
AU - Manabu Kubota
AU - Shin Kurose
AU - Kenji Tagai
AU - Yuki Momota
AU - Masanori Ichihashi
AU - Hironobu Endo
AU - Chie Seki
AU - Sho Moriguchi
AU - Yasuharu Yamamoto
AU - Yuko Kataoka
AU - Ryoji Goto
AU - Takehiro Tamura
AU - Hiroki Shiwaku
AU - Kiwamu Matsuoka
AU - Hisaomi Suzuki
AU - Mitsumoto Onaya
AU - Takahiko Tokuda
AU - Hiroyuki Uchida
AU - Hidehiko Takahashi
AU - Kazunori Kawamura
AU - Ming-Rong Zhang
AU - Makoto Higuchi
AU - Keisuke Takahata
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/03
JO - Molecular Psychiatry
DO - 10.1038/s41380-026-03749-3
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03749-3
AB - Late-onset psychosis (LOP) exhibits distinct clinical features compared with younger-onset psychosis. Although postmortem and epidemiological studies have suggested an association between LOP and neurodegenerative processes, particularly tauopathies, in vivo evidence remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and non-AD tauopathies in LOP using amyloid PET and tau PET with florzolotau (18F) (18F-florzolotau; also known as 18F-APN-1607 or 18F-PM-PBB3), a tracer capable of detecting a broad range of tau pathologies. Thirty-seven patients with LOP and 47 age-matched controls underwent PET scans with 11C-PiB and 18F-florzolotau to assess group differences in amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau accumulation. Diagnostic effects on regional 18F-florzolotau standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) were assessed. Associations between regional SUVRs and cognitive and clinical features were examined separately in Aβ-positive and Aβ-negative subgroups. Patients exhibited significantly higher positivity rates for both Aβ (13 of 37 patients, 35.1%) and tau (24 patients, 64.9%) than controls (one of 47 controls, 2.1% for Aβ and seven controls, 14.9% for tau). A significant diagnostic effect was observed on regional 18F-florzolotau SUVRs (P = 0.004), with post-hoc analyses revealing increased tracer retention in the parietal cortex. This diagnostic effect remained robust when the analysis was restricted to Aβ-negative participants (P = 0.002). Among Aβ-positive patients, greater parietal tau burden was associated with lower Frontal Assessment Battery scores. In conclusion, this in vivo PET study demonstrated a high prevalence of AD-like and non-AD-like tau accumulation patterns in LOP, suggesting that LOP may be associated with heterogeneous tau-related neurodegenerative processes.
SN - 1359-4184
SN - 1476-5578
ER -