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A Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease: Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations
Steven J Kiddle, Nicola Voyle, Richard J B Dobson. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2018
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Ever since the discovery of APOEɛ4 around 25 years ago, researchers have been excited about the potential of a blood test for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since then researchers have looked for genetic, protein, metabolite, and/or gene expression markers of AD and related phenotypes. However, no blood test for AD is yet being used in the clinical setting. We first review the trends and challenges in AD blood biomarker research, before giving our personal recommendations to help researchers overcome these challenges. While some degree of consistency and replication has been seen across independent studies, several high-profile studies have seemingly failed to replicate. Partly due to academic incentives, there is a reluctance in the field to report predictive ability, to publish negative findings, and to independently replicate the work of others. If this can be addressed, then we will know sooner whether a blood test for AD or related phenotypes with clinical utility can be developed.
Key findings
- However, no blood test for AD is yet being used in the clinical setting.
- We first review the trends and challenges in AD blood biomarker research, before giving our personal recommendations to help researchers overcome these challenges.
- While some degree of consistency and replication has been seen across independent studies, several high-profile studies have seemingly failed to replicate.
- Partly due to academic incentives, there is a reluctance in the field to report predictive ability, to publish negative findings, and to independently replicate the work of others.
- If this can be addressed, then we will know sooner whether a blood test for AD or related phenotypes with clinical utility can be developed.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 39 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29614671) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 22 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 39 out of 100. |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Kiddle, S. J., Voyle, N., & Dobson, R. J. B. (2018). A Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease: Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-179904
Vancouver
Kiddle SJ, Voyle N, Dobson RJB. A Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease: Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2018. doi:10.3233/jad-179904. PMID: 29614671.
BibTeX
@article{kiddle2018-29614671,
author = {Kiddle, Steven J and Voyle, Nicola and Dobson, Richard J B},
title = {{A Blood Test for Alzheimer's Disease: Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.3233/jad-179904},
pmid = {29614671},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-179904}
}
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