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Association of plasma p-tau and p-tau/Aβ ratio with Alzheimer's pathology
Xuhui Chen, Mingxing Jiang, Laihong Zhang, Jiayi Zhu, Anqi Li, Zhengbo He, Xin Zhou, Yalin Zhu et al.. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease, 2026-01-01
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Among the individual plasma p-tau variants, p-tau217 consistently outperformed p-tau181 and p-tau231. The combination of p-tau biomarkers (p-tau181, p-tau217, and p-tau231) with Aβ42 or the Aβ42/40 ratio further improved discrimination between Aβ+/CU (cognitively unimpaired) and Aβ-/CU individuals. Both p-tau/Aβ42 and p-tau/(Aβ42/40) exhibited slightly stronger or comparable associations with Aβ PET burden, baseline and longitudinal measures of hippocampal atrophy, AD-typical cortical thinning, and cognitive decline, relative to p-tau alone. The head-to-head comparisons indicate that p-tau217 is the most robust biomarker among the variants tested, and p-tau/Aβ ratios perform comparably or slightly better than p-tau alone in reflecting AD pathology, potentially providing complementary information for early detection and monitoring of disease progression.
Key findings
- Among the individual plasma p-tau variants, p-tau217 consistently outperformed p-tau181 and p-tau231.
- The combination of p-tau biomarkers (p-tau181, p-tau217, and p-tau231) with Aβ42 or the Aβ42/40 ratio further improved discrimination between Aβ+/CU (cognitively unimpaired) and Aβ-/CU individuals.
- Both p-tau/Aβ42 and p-tau/(Aβ42/40) exhibited slightly stronger or comparable associations with Aβ PET burden, baseline and longitudinal measures of hippocampal atrophy, AD-typical cortical thinning, and cognitive decline, relative to p-tau alone.
- The head-to-head comparisons indicate that p-tau217 is the most robust biomarker among the variants tested, and p-tau/Aβ ratios perform comparably or slightly better than p-tau alone in reflecting AD pathology, potentially providing complementary information for early detection and monitoring of disease progression.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants352
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 70/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported 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 39 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 70 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 352 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) |
| 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 41478832) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 39 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 70 out of 100. |
| Total | 70 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Chen, X., Jiang, M., Zhang, L., Zhu, J., Li, A., He, Z., et al. (2026). Association of plasma p-tau and p-tau/Aβ ratio with Alzheimer's pathology. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100472
Vancouver
Chen X, Jiang M, Zhang L, Zhu J, Li A, He Z, et al. Association of plasma p-tau and p-tau/Aβ ratio with Alzheimer's pathology. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease. 2026. doi:10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100472. PMID: 41478832.
BibTeX
@article{chen2026-41478832,
author = {Chen, Xuhui and Jiang, Mingxing and Zhang, Laihong and Zhu, Jiayi and Li, Anqi and He, Zhengbo and Zhou, Xin and Zhu, Yalin and others},
title = {{Association of plasma p-tau and p-tau/Aβ ratio with Alzheimer's pathology}},
journal = {The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100472},
pmid = {41478832},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100472}
}