A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Profiling Plasma Biomarkers, Particularly pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42, and Their Relation to Cognition in Memory Clinic Patients




AuthorsBucci, Marco; Almkvist, Ove; Bluma, Marina; Ashton, Nicholas J.; Savitcheva, Irina; Chiotis, Konstantinos; Di Molfetta, Guglielmo; Blennow, Kaj; Zetterberg, Henrik; Nordberg, Agneta

PublisherWiley-Blackwell

Publication year2025

Journal:Journal of Neurochemistry

Journal name in sourceJournal of Neurochemistry

Article numbere70182

Volume169

Issue8

ISSN0022-3042

eISSN1471-4159

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.70182

Web address https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.70182

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499819835


Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by brain protein depositions, impaired synaptic transmission, and progressive cognitive decline. This clinical study, conducted at the tertiary memory clinic of Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, evaluates plasma pTau217 (in comparison to other plasma biomarkers) as a non-invasive marker for predicting brain amyloid load and cognitive impairment. Uniquely, it integrates plasma biomarkers with cognitive profiling and amyloid PET to assess diagnostic utility across disease stages in a real-world memory clinic setting. A total of 122 patients underwent extensive clinical examinations, including CSF analysis (used here for clinical diagnosis only), CT/MRI, neuropsychological (NP) testing (n = 80) and blood biomarker measurements. Prior to PET imaging, 74 patients were diagnosed with MCI among other diagnoses (AD, other dementia, no dementia). Following PET, patients were reclassified into diagnostic groups: MCI Aβ− (n = 29), MCI Aβ+ (n = 19), AD (n = 51), other dementias (n = 11). ROC analysis evaluated the ability of plasma biomarkers to predict Aβ-PET positivity. NP test z-scores were reduced into principal components (PCs) using PCA. Plasma pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42 ratio were elevated in Aβ+ patients compared to MCI Aβ-patients. The ratio distinguished MCI Aβ+ from AD and, together with pTau217, showed the highest predictive value for Aβ positivity in the MCI group among the biomarkers analyzed (AUC 92.8% and 91.4%). Plasma pTau217/Aβ42 ratio was associated with principal component PC2 (“memory encoding and recall”) in MCI Aβ+ (ρ =0.64, p=0.01) and negatively correlated with RAVL retrieval (PC2) in the same group (ρ =−0.57 and −0.6, p=0.028 and 0.017, respectively). Additionally, pTau217 correlated with the “Information” z-score (PC4) in both AD (ρ = −0.50, p = 0.005) and MCI Aβ+ (ρ = 0.53, p = 0.042). Plasma pTau217/Aβ42 might be a valuable predictor of brain amyloid pathology and a potential marker of domain-specific cognitive impairment in AD. 


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Funding information in the publication
This study was financially supported by the Swedish Research Council (project 2017-06086, 2020-4-3018, 2023-02649), the Swedish Brain foundation (Hjärnfonden), the Swedish Alzheimer foundation (Alzheimer fonden), Region Stockholm (ALF grant), Region Stockholm KI CIMED, the Family Kaudert donation, La Fondation Recherche Alzheimer (FRA), and the KI private bequest (A Nordberg). Henrik Zetterberg is a Wallenberg Scholar and a Distinguished Professor at the Swedish Research Council supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (#2023-00356, #2022-01018, and #2019-02397), the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101053962, and Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (#ALFGBG-71320).


Last updated on 2025-23-09 at 15:39