One step closer to blood biomarkers for #Alzheimer! Two independant papers out in @NatureMedicine today, from us & @biofinder_study.
@EHThijssen tested the diagnostic properties of plasma Ptau181 using lots of data from @UCSFmac. nature.com/articles/s4159…
Illustrated summary ⬇️!
@EHThijssen tested the diagnostic properties of plasma Ptau181 using lots of data from @UCSFmac. nature.com/articles/s4159…
Illustrated summary ⬇️!
1) Ptau181 is elevated in patients with a clinical Dx of Alzheimers, compared to controls and syndromes associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration
2) Using PET to detect amyloid deposition, @EHThijssen showed that Ptau181 differenciates amyloid-positive from negative cases: AUROC=.92 in 185 patients, .94 in MCI (n=39), and .88 in controls (n=40)
3) plasma Ptau181 is also correlated with global cortical tau-PET using Flortaucipir (r=.73). Voxelwise analyses showed a pattern predominating in temporal, parietal, and frontal areas
4) Ptau181 is also related to lower grey matter volume in the temporo-parietal areas (i.e. the typical AD signature) in 220 participants
5) Last set of (very important) analyses: some of the patients with available plasma Ptau had available post mortem diagnosis, and analyses showed that the plasma biomarker distinguished path proven AD versus FTLD!
Oh and the paper also includes a lot of data on plasma NfL, but we’ll let you read the full article for more details (spoiler alert: very different pattern than Ptau)
This was a large collaboration between biomarker, clinical, imaging, and neuropathology experts from @UCSFmac (cc @relajoie @ameliastrom @leoiacca @SalvoSpinaSF @grinberg_t) and beyond.
And most importantly, a collaboration with our participants and their caregivers. Thanks for your time, dedication and inspiration 🙏. Without you, no progress can be made to #ENDALZ
