Diagnostic value of plasma phosphorylated tau181 in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration

• Plasma pTau181 concentrations are elevated specifically in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease compared to those diagnosed with frontotemporal lobar degeneration or elderly controls, supporting its further development as a blood-based biomarker for AD. With the potential development of new disease-modifying Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapies, simple, widely available screening tests are needed to identify which individuals, who are experiencing symptoms of cognitive or behavioral decline, should be further evaluated for initiation of treatment. A blood-based test for AD would be a less invasive and less expensive screening tool than the currently approved cerebrospinal fluid or amyloid beta positron emission tomography (PET) diagnostic tests. We examined whether plasma tau phosphorylated at residue 181 (pTau181) could differentiate between clinically diagnosed or autopsy-confirmed AD and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Plasma pTau181 concentrations were increased by 3.5-fold in AD compared to controls and differentiated AD from both clinically diagnosed (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve of 0.894) and autopsy-confirmed frontotemporal lobar degeneration (area under the curve of 0.878). Plasma pTau181 identified individuals who were amyloid beta-PET-positive regardless of clinical diagnosis and correlated with cortical tau protein deposition measured by F-18-flortaucipir PET. Plasma pTau181 may be useful to screen for tau pathology associated with AD.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

positron-emission-tomography

neurofilament light-chain

mild cognitive

impairment

csf biomarkers

association workgroups

national institute

fluid biomarkers

amyloid pet

dementia

neuropathology

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Cell Biology

Research & Experimental

Medicine

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)