Detecting Alzheimer’s disease in blood

A major advance in Alzheimer's research: what if the disease could be detected by measuring a biomarker in the blood?

𝐀𝐥𝐳𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of neurons, leading to 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis and positron emission tomography (PET) scans are often available in specialized centers, but research has also focused on 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬. Indeed, using 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 would improve early diagnosis of AD and patient management. In previous studies, the leading candidate was the 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐮 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟏𝟕 (p-tau217).

A cohort study recently published in 𝐽𝐴𝑀𝐴 𝑁𝑒𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 showed that a p-tau217 assay was able to 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 with abnormal β-amyloid peptide and tau protein levels, with a 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 found in cerebrospinal fluid. In addition, this assay also detected changes 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 in patients with abnormal β-amyloid levels.

This is a promising prospect for patients, as this blood test is 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 than the tests usually used to diagnose AD. The assay could also be used to identify patients 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 of the disease and to improve their care.