Special issue editorial: Key results of the european human biomonitoring initiative - HBM4EU

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Learning from previous work and finding synergies in the domains of public and environmental health: EU-funded projects BRIDGE Health and HBM4EU.

During the last decade, the European Union initiated several projects in the domains of public and environmental health. Within this framework, BRIDGE Health (Bridging Information and Data Generation for Evidence-based Health policy and Research) and HBM4EU (European human biomonitoring initiative) have been implemented. Whereas, the focus of BRIDGE Health was towards a sustainable and integrated health information system (HIS), the aim of HBM4EU is to improve evidence of the internal exposure of European citizens to environmental chemicals by human biomonitoring (HBM) and the impact of internal exposure on health. As both, environmental and public health determinants are important for health promotion, disease prevention and policy, BRIDGE Health and HBM4EU have overlapping aims and outcomes. In order to improve health information regarding public health and environmental health issues, best use and exchange of respective networks and project results is necessary. Both projects have implemented health information (HI) and HBM tasks in order to provide adequate environmental and public health information of the European population. Synergies of the projects were identified in the working progress and because of overlapping networks and experts a focused analysis of both projects was envisaged. This paper elaborates on the aims and outcomes of both projects and the benefit of merging and channelling research results for the use of better health information and policy making that may be of relevance for any other project in these research fields. The need for focused exchanges and collaborations between the projects were identified and benefits of exchanges were highlighted for the specific areas of indicator development, linkage of data repositories and the combination of HBM studies and health examination surveys (HES). Further recommendations for a European wide harmonisation among different tasks in the fields of public health and environmental health are being developed. Lessons learned from HBM4EU and BRIDGE Health show that continuous efforts must be undertaken, also by succeeding projects, to guarantee the exchange between public health and environmental health issues. Networks covering both are essential to provide better evidence of knowledge. The experiences from BRIDGE Health and HBM4EU give a valuable input for any future activity in these domains. Avoiding overlaps and streamlining further exchange of public health and environmental health contributes to best use of research results and allows to develop new strategies and tools for improvement of health information and thus enhances people's health and well-being.This publication is funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 733032 (HBM4EU) and from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany (BMU) under FKZ 3716622000. Open Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL.S

Face-Name Associative Recognition Deficits in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: There is a need for more sensitive neuropsychological tests to detect subtle cognitive deficits emerging in the preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Associative memory is a cognitive function supported by the hippocampus and affected early in the process of AD. Objective: We developed a short computerized face-name associative recognition test (FNART) and tested whether it would detect memory impairment in memory clinic patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Methods: We recruited 61 elderly patients with either SCD (n = 32) or MCI (n = 29) and 28 healthy controls (HC) and compared performance on FNART, self-reported cognitive deterioration in different domains (ECog-39), and, in a reduced sample (n = 46), performance on the visual Paired Associates Learning of the CANTAB battery. Results: Asignificant effect of group on FNART test performance in the total samplewas found (p < 0.001). Planned contrasts indicated a significantly lower associative memory performance in the SCD (p = 0.001, d = 0.82) and MCI group (p < 0.001, d = 1.54), as compared to HCs, respectively. The CANTAB-PAL discriminated only between HC and MCI, possibly because of reduced statistical power. Adjusted for depression, performance on FNART was significantly related to ECog-39 Memory in SCD patients (p = 0.024) but not in MCI patients. Conclusions: Associative memory is substantially impaired in memory clinic patients with SCD and correlates specifically with memory complaints at this putative preclinical stage of AD. Further studies will need to examine the predictive validity of the FNART in SCD patients with regard to longitudinal (i.e., conversion to MCI/AD) and biomarker outcomes

Human biomonitoring : towards more integrated approaches in Europe

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A Comparison of Operational Definitions for Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Consideration of many tests from different cognitive domains in defining mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is clinical routine, but guidelines for a neuropsychological operationalization of MCI are lacking. Objective: Among different operational MCI criteria, to identify those which are best in predicting either conversion to dementia, or a biomarker profile indicative for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Memory clinic patients without dementia (N= 558; mean age = 66; up to 3 years of follow-up; n = 360 with baseline CSF biomarkers) were included in an observational study using most liberal criteria of cognitive impairment. Four operational definitions of MCI were retrospectively applied: 1) amnestic MCI (CERAD word list delayed recall), 2) CERAD total score, 3) comprehensive criteria and 4) base rate corrected CERAD. We compared their accuracy in predicting incident all-cause dementia or AD dementia within three years, or a concurrent CSF A beta(42)/tau-ratio indicative of AD. Results: The four definitions overlapped considerably, classified 35-58% of the original sample as impaired and were associated with markedly increased PPVs regarding incident all-cause dementia (39-46% versus 26% of the original sample), AD dementia and AD biomarker positivity. The base rate corrected MCI definition had the highest prognostic accuracy. Conclusion: The operational criteria examined seem suitable to specify MCI in memory clinic settings, as they identify subjects at high risk of clinical progression. Depending on the neuropsychological battery in use, one or several of these criteria could help to calibrate the clinical judgment of test results, reduce false-positive decisions, and define risk-enriched groups for clinical trials

Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers and Clinical Progression in Patients with Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: There is very limited data on the prevalence of abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their predictive value for clinical progression in memory clinic patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Objective: To assess the frequency of abnormal CSF biomarkers of AD and their predictive value for clinical progression in memory clinic patients with SCD in comparison to patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the same cohort. Methods: We analyzed prospective data from memory clinic patients of the German Competence Network Dementia cohort with a baseline diagnosis of SCD (n = 82) or MCI (n = 134), distinguished by actuarial neuropsychological MCI criteria ( Jak-Bondi criteria). Risk of clinical progression during 3-year follow-up was evaluated with Cox-Proportional-Hazard models. Results: Prevalence of abnormal values in CSF markers of tau-mediated neurodegeneration (67.8% versus 46.3%) but not of amyloid deposition (40.3% versus 35.4%) was significantly higher in MCI compared to SCD. The rate of incident AD dementia (26.1% versus 12.2%) was also significantly higher in MCI. In SCD, additional 22% progressed to MCI during follow-up. Combined amyloid/tau abnormality was the strongest predictor of clinical progression in both groups. Conclusion: High prevalence of biomarker abnormality and clinical progression, together with the predictive value of CSF biomarkers, in memory clinic patients with SCD support the validity and usefulness of this condition as a pre-MCI at risk stage of AD