Plasma p‐tau forms as potential diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAccumulation of tau aggregates is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that is closely related to the emergence of neurodegeneration and manifestation of clinical symptoms. Currently, CSF and plasma biomarkers of tau pathology, which would improve the diagnostic process in everyday clinical practice and facilitate the classification of patients for clinical trials, are the focus of research. Biomarkers of tau pathology correlate with post‐mortem AD pathology. Furthermore, they allow for differentiation of AD from other types of dementia, and prediction of future progression from normal cognition and mild cognitive impairment to AD. The availability of The clinical utility of novel assays for the detection of several isoforms of tau pathophysiology in the blood, which are currently available, requires verification. Therefore, the aim of the present study was evaluation of tau proteins in the blood of AD patients and non‐demented controls, and assessment of their diagnostic utility.MethodPlasma concentrations of pTau181 and pTau231 were assessed using a Single molecule array (Simoa). CSF biomarkers, including Aβ‐42, Aβ‐42/Aβ‐40, tau and pTau181 were evaluated in 20 AD patients and 18 elderly subjects without cognitive deficits by ELISA technique.ResultStatistically significantly higher blood levels of pTau181 and pTau231 were observed in AD patients in comparison to cognitively normal individuals. Increased concentration of pTau231 correlated with age and MMSE. Furthermore, the associations between the levels of plasma pTau231 and plasma pTau181, CSF Tau and pTau181, as well as Aβ‐42 were observed in the whole study group.ConclusionThe results indicate that plasma P‐tau181 and P‐tau231 may be diagnostic biomarkers that can help to predict cognitive decline and that they hold promise for use in routine clinical practice.