Head-to-head study of diagnostic accuracy of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid p-tau217 versus p-tau181 and p-tau231 in a memory clinic cohort

• Background and objective Phosphorylated tau (p-tau) 217 has recently received attention because it seems more reliable than other p-tau variants for identifying Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Thus, we aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of plasma and CSF p-tau217 with p-tau181 and p-tau231 in a memory clinic cohort.Methods The study included 114 participants (CU = 33; MCI = 67; Dementia = 14). The p-tau variants were correlated versus continuous measures of amyloid (A) and tau (T)-PET. The p-tau phospho-epitopes were assessed through: (i) effect sizes (delta) between diagnostic and A +/- and T +/- groups; (ii) receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses in A-PET and T-PET.Results The correlations between both plasma and CSF p-tau217 with A-PET and T-PET (r range 0.64-0.83) were stronger than those of p-tau181 (r range 0.44-0.79) and p-tau231 (r range 0.46-0.76). Plasma p-tau217 showed significantly higher diagnostic accuracy than p-tau181 and p-tau231 in (i) differences between diagnostic and biomarker groups (delta(range): p-tau217 = 0.55-0.96; p-tau181 = 0.51-0.67; p-tau231 = 0.53-0.71); (ii) ROC curves to identify A-PET and T-PET positivity (AUC(average): p-tau217 = 0.96; p-tau181 = 0.76; p-tau231 = 0.79). On the other hand, CSF p-tau217 (AUC(average) = 0.95) did not reveal significant differences in A-PET and T-PET AUC than p-tau181 (AUC(average) = 0.88) and p-tau231 (AUC(average) = 0.89).Discussion Plasma p-tau217 demonstrated better performance in the identification of AD pathology and clinical phenotypes in comparison with other variants of p-tau in a memory clinic cohort. Furthermore, p-tau217 had comparable performance in plasma and CSF. Our findings suggest the potential of plasma p-tau217 in the diagnosis and screening for AD, which could allow for a decreased use of invasive biomarkers in the future.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Plasma

CSF

p-tau

Alzheimer's disease

Amyloid

Tau

Alzheimer’s disease

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)