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43/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 43 out of 100. Tau biomarkers

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

DNA methylation has been shown to play a crucial role in many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although many studies have correlated DNA methylation in blood samples with risk of clinical AD diagnosis, few have examined links with AD neuropathology. Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study, we investigate the associations between peripheral blood DNA methylation and three AD-associated biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid: amyloid-β, phosphorylated tau-181, and total tau using an innovative multivariate approach.

Key findings

Although many studies have correlated DNA methylation in blood samples with risk of clinical AD diagnosis, few have examined links with AD neuropathology.
Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study, we investigate the associations between peripheral blood DNA methylation and three AD-associated biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid: amyloid-β, phosphorylated tau-181, and total tau using an innovative multivariate approach.
In our approach, we first adjusted the methylation values for covariates that have known wide-spread effects on methylation.
We then developed and implemented a multivariate penalized model to find associations, jointly, between CSF biomarkers and sets of methylation residuals defined by regions around each gene.

Why it matters

Using ADNI data, this study looked for associations between peripheral blood DNA methylation and three CSF Alzheimer biomarkers: amyloid-β, phosphorylated tau-181 and total tau. It is about biological links with disease markers, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer disease.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →

Study details

Study designlongitudinal study
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 43/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 41 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Scientific reports)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	Scientific Reports: journal h-index 463 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	7 / 12	A longitudinal study following the same people over time
Strength of evidence	3 / 5	Rated “moderate” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 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	0 / 7	Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	0 / 6	Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Celia M. T. Greenwood holds only 5 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score
Institution's track record	1 / 3	McGill University: institution h-index 1,373 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41184364)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Points	41 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 41 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100.
Total	43 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

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. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Xiao, B., Zeng, Y., Oros Klein, K., Granato, B., Blanchette, M., Shao, X., et al. (2025). A multivariate approach to identify association between peripheral blood DNA methylation and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer disease. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-22004-3

Vancouver

Xiao B, Zeng Y, Oros Klein K, Granato B, Blanchette M, Shao X, et al. A multivariate approach to identify association between peripheral blood DNA methylation and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer disease. Scientific reports. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-22004-3. PMID: 41184364.

BibTeX

@article{xiao2025-41184364,
  author  = {Xiao, B. and Zeng, Y. and Oros Klein, K. and Granato, B. and Blanchette, M. and Shao, X. and Greenwood, C. M. T.},
  title   = {{A multivariate approach to identify association between peripheral blood DNA methylation and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer disease}},
  journal = {Scientific reports},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1038/s41598-025-22004-3},
  pmid    = {41184364},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-22004-3}
}

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