Home › Research › Biomarkers
A minimally invasive dried blood spot biomarker test for the detection of Alzheimer's disease pathology
Huber H, Montoliu-Gaya L, Brum WS, Vávra J, Yakoub Y, Weninger H, Braun-Wohlfahrt LS, Simrén J et al.. Nature medicine, 2026-01-05
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Blood biomarkers have emerged as accurate tools for detecting Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, offering a minimally invasive alternative to traditional diagnostic methods such as imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. Yet, the logistics surrounding venipuncture for blood collection, although considerably simpler than the acquisition of imaging and CSF, require precise processing and storage specific to AD biomarkers that are still guided by medical personnel. Consequently, limitations in their widescale use in research and broader clinical implementation exist. The DROP-AD project investigates the potential of dried plasma spot (DPS) and dried blood spot (DBS) analysis, derived from capillary blood, for detecting AD biomarkers, including phosphorylated tau at amino acid 217 (p-tau217), glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light. Here, 337 participants from 7 centers were included, with 304 participants providing paired capillary DPS or DBS and venous plasma samples. We observed strong correlations between DPS p-tau217 and venous plasma p-tau217 (r S = 0.74, P < 0.001). DPS p-tau217 progressively increased with increasing disease severity, and showed good accuracy in predicting CSF biomarker positivity (area under the curve = 0.864). Similarly, we demonstrated the successful detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light with strong correlations between DBS and DPS, respectively, using paired venous plasma samples. Notably, the method was also effective in individuals with Down syndrome, a population at high genetic risk for AD but in whom standard blood sampling by venipuncture may be more complicated, revealing elevated biomarkers in those with dementia compared with asymptomatic individuals. The study also explored unsupervised blood collection, finding high concordance between supervised and self-collected samples. These findings underscore the potential of dried blood collection and capillary blood as a minimally invasive, scalable approach for AD biomarker testing in research settings. Yet, further refinement of collection and analytical protocols is needed to fully translate this approach to be viable and useful as a clinical tool.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Huber, H., Montoliu-Gaya, L., Brum, W. S., Vávra, J., Yakoub, Y., Weninger, H., et al. (2026). A minimally invasive dried blood spot biomarker test for the detection of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Nature medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04080-0
Vancouver
Huber H, Montoliu-Gaya L, Brum WS, Vávra J, Yakoub Y, Weninger H, et al. A minimally invasive dried blood spot biomarker test for the detection of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Nature medicine. 2026. doi:10.1038/s41591-025-04080-0. PMID: 41491101.
BibTeX
@article{huber2026-41491101,
author = {Huber, H. and Montoliu-Gaya, L. and Brum, W. S. and Vávra, J. and Yakoub, Y. and Weninger, H. and Braun-Wohlfahrt, L. S. and Simrén, J. and others},
title = {{A minimally invasive dried blood spot biomarker test for the detection of Alzheimer's disease pathology}},
journal = {Nature medicine},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1038/s41591-025-04080-0},
pmid = {41491101},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04080-0}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- We observed strong correlations between DPS p-tau217 and venous plasma p-tau217 (r S = 0.74, P < 0.001).
- Similarly, we demonstrated the successful detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light with strong correlations between DBS and DPS, respectively, using paired venous plasma samples.
- Notably, the method was also effective in individuals with Down syndrome, a population at high genetic risk for AD but in whom standard blood sampling by venipuncture may be more complicated, revealing elevated biomarkers in those with dementia compared with asymptomatic individuals.
- These findings underscore the potential of dried blood collection and capillary blood as a minimally invasive, scalable approach for AD biomarker testing in research settings.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Participants337
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 60/100
Published in a top-tier journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomized / 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 and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 35 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 60 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Nature medicine) |
| 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 | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 337 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization 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 |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41491101) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 35 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 35 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 60 out of 100. |
| Total | 60 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Biomarkers
Also tagged “blood”
5 studies in the library carry the topic tag “blood”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 5 tagged studies.