Plasma p-tau217 as a two-cutoff approach to improve tau-PET screening and trial recruitment in Alzheimer’s disease

A new study explores the potential of plasma p-tau217, a blood-based biomarker, for improved Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and research. This biomarker, when combined with tau PET scans, showed promising results in differentiating Alzheimer's disease dementia from other cognitive states. The research used a harmonized ADNI cohort and a meta-ROI tau-PET threshold, analyzing participants with complete baseline biomarkers across three diagnostic groups.

The two-cutoff strategy implemented by the study significantly reduced the number of gray-zone classifications, indicating its potential as a primary screening tool for tau-PET scans before confirmation. While plasma p-tau217 outperformed other blood biomarkers, its overall accuracy remained moderate and varied based on diagnosis, with higher performance in Alzheimer's disease dementia.

Further validation across diverse groups is required to confirm these findings. The research, funded by Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and the Department of Defense, was conducted by a multidisciplinary team from Iran and the UK, with support from various institutions and organizations.