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[Blood biomarkers open a window to brain pathophysiology in Alzheimer's disease]
Blennow K, Hansson O.. Lakartidningen, 2024-05-31
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Technical developments have paved the way for the development of ultrasensitive analytical methods that allow for precise quantification of brain-specific proteins in blood samples. Plasma levels of amyloid β, specifically the Aβ42/40 ratio, are reduced in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and show concordance with brain amyloidosis assessed by PET, but the overlap with normal elderly may be too large for reliable use in clinical applications. Plasma phosphorylated tau (P-tau), especially a variant called P-tau217, is markedly increased in the early symptomatic stages of AD but remains normal in other neurodegenerative disorders.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Blennow, K., & Hansson, O. (2024). [Blood biomarkers open a window to brain pathophysiology in Alzheimer's disease]. Lakartidningen.
Vancouver
Blennow K, Hansson O. [Blood biomarkers open a window to brain pathophysiology in Alzheimer's disease]. Lakartidningen. 2024. PMID: 38818759.
BibTeX
@article{blennow2024-38818759,
author = {Blennow, K. and Hansson, O.},
title = {{[Blood biomarkers open a window to brain pathophysiology in Alzheimer's disease]}},
journal = {Lakartidningen},
year = {2024},
pmid = {38818759}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. This record has no DOI, so the citation leaves it out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Plasma levels of amyloid β, specifically the Aβ42/40 ratio, are reduced in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and show concordance with brain amyloidosis assessed by PET, but the overlap with normal elderly may be too large for reliable use in clinical applications.
- Plasma phosphorylated tau (P-tau), especially a variant called P-tau217, is markedly increased in the early symptomatic stages of AD but remains normal in other neurodegenerative disorders.
- Total tau (T-tau) is measurable in blood and shows most promise as a biomarker for acute neuronal injury (e.g. acute traumatic or hypoxic brain injury), where T-tau shows a fast and dramatic increase but does not work well as an AD biomarker due to contributions to blood levels from peripheral tissues.
- Instead, a novel method for tau protein produced only in the CNS called brain-derived tau (BD-tau) shows promise as a biomarker for AD-type neurodegeneration.
Why it matters
This review describes blood biomarkers, noting that the plasma amyloid beta 42/40 ratio overlaps too much with normal elderly for reliable clinical use, while plasma p-tau217 is markedly increased in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease and normal in other neurodegenerative disorders. It concerns diagnosis and does not report any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 34/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 33 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 34 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Lakartidningen) |
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2024 — 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.2 citations a year over 4 year(s) since 2024 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.3× 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 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Oskar Hansson: h-index 148 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Lund University: institution h-index 1,119 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 38818759) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 33 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 33 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 34 out of 100. |
| Total | 34 / 100 | — |
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