Original title: Comparison of brain-derived versus conventional pTau biomarkers in CSF and plasma for detecting Alzheimer’s disease
The study compares two kinds of tests for phosphorylated tau, a protein measured in spinal fluid and blood. One kind measures tau thought to come from the brain; the other measures conventional tau forms. The researchers compared how well each test identified people whose brain scans showed amyloid buildup, a feature linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Brain-derived tests generally performed better, especially in blood, though the study does not establish that they are ready for clinical use.
Imagine sorting a pile of laundry into light and dark clothes. Some items are faded, so their color makes them hard to place confidently. In this paper, the laundry is people’s test results, and the two sorting methods are brain-derived and conventional tau tests; the brain-derived tests more often separated people with and without amyloid buildup.
A blood test could help clinicians decide who may need further testing for Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, brain-derived tau assays distinguished people with and without amyloid buildup better than conventional assays, especially in plasma, but clinical use still needs confirmation.
The abstract reports results from participants with amyloid-PET imaging and does not establish performance in routine clinical settings. The authors state that the findings need confirmation using fully automated diagnostic platforms intended for clinical use. It also reports an exception: CSF pTau217 did not show the higher performance seen for most brain-derived assays.
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Comparison of brain-derived versus conventional pTau biomarkers in CSF and plasma for detecting Alzheimer’s disease — Lydia Trudel, Joseph Therriault, Valentina Ghisays et al. — Brain Communications — doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcag376
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.