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Blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice and trials
Hansson O, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Dage J.. Nature aging, 2023-05-18
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Blood-based biomarkers hold great promise to revolutionize the diagnostic and prognostic work-up of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in clinical practice. This is very timely, considering the recent development of anti-amyloid-β (Aβ) immunotherapies. Several assays for measuring phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in plasma exhibit high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing AD from all other neurodegenerative diseases in patients with cognitive impairment. Prognostic models based on plasma p-tau levels can also predict future development of AD dementia in patients with mild cognitive complaints. The use of such high-performing plasma p-tau assays in the clinical practice of specialist memory clinics would reduce the need for more costly investigations involving cerebrospinal fluid samples or positron emission tomography. Indeed, blood-based biomarkers already facilitate identification of individuals with pre-symptomatic AD in the context of clinical trials. Longitudinal measurements of such biomarkers will also improve the detection of relevant disease-modifying effects of new drugs or lifestyle interventions.
Key findings
- Several assays for measuring phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in plasma exhibit high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing AD from all other neurodegenerative diseases in patients with cognitive impairment.
- Prognostic models based on plasma p-tau levels can also predict future development of AD dementia in patients with mild cognitive complaints.
- The use of such high-performing plasma p-tau assays in the clinical practice of specialist memory clinics would reduce the need for more costly investigations involving cerebrospinal fluid samples or positron emission tomography.
- Indeed, blood-based biomarkers already facilitate identification of individuals with pre-symptomatic AD in the context of clinical trials.
- Longitudinal measurements of such biomarkers will also improve the detection of relevant disease-modifying effects of new drugs or lifestyle interventions.
Why it matters
This review states that several assays measuring phosphorylated tau in plasma show high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing Alzheimer's disease from other neurodegenerative diseases in patients with cognitive impairment, and that prognostic models based on plasma p-tau can predict future development of Alzheimer's dementia in people with mild cognitive complaints. It says using such assays in specialist memory clinics would reduce the need for more costly CSF or PET investigations, and that longitudinal measurements will help detect disease-modifying effects of new drugs or lifestyle interventions.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 68/100
Published in a leading specialty 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.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature aging) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Nature Aging: journal h-index 103 (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 | 3 / 5 | 2023 — within 6 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 | 6 / 7 | Cited 508 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 101.6 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 91.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 64 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 488 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Jeffrey L. Dage: h-index 50 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 11 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 37202517) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 68 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s43587-023-00403-3
- PubMed: 37202517
- Original source →
- Free full text: IUScholarWorks (Indiana University) →
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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hansson, O., Blennow, K., Zetterberg, H., & Dage, J. (2023). Blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice and trials. Nature aging. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00403-3
Vancouver
Hansson O, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Dage J. Blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice and trials. Nature aging. 2023. doi:10.1038/s43587-023-00403-3. PMID: 37202517.
BibTeX
@article{hansson2023-37202517,
author = {Hansson, O. and Blennow, K. and Zetterberg, H. and Dage, J.},
title = {{Blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in clinical practice and trials}},
journal = {Nature aging},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1038/s43587-023-00403-3},
pmid = {37202517},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00403-3}
}
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