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Correlation and Interchangeability of Amyloid, Tau, and Glucose Metabolism PET in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer: A Review
Emile Balot, Stefaan Vandenberghe, Tim Van Langenhove, Valerie De Meulenaere, Yves D’Asseler, Donatienne Van Weehaeghe. Brain Sciences, 2025-11-26
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Positron emission tomography (PET) allows for minimally invasive in vivo localization of amyloid and tau deposition, and visualization of glucose metabolism using amyloid PET, tau PET, and FDG PET. Clinically, these scans are used to determine A, T, and N (amyloid-β plaques, tau tangles, and neurodegeneration) status in Alzheimer’s disease. In light of the recent anti-amyloid therapies, determination of the A, and the associated T and N status is increasingly important. This review explores the potential of a single PET scan to define multiple biomarkers. A literature search using the PubMed database and an additional citation search using Google Scholar identified 76 relevant publications up to 30 July 2025. Original work reporting amyloid, tau or FDG PET to determine two or more ATN-related biomarkers were included. Non-English, animal, and non-dementia related studies were excluded. For each study, quantitative outcomes such as correlations and ROC AUC scores were extracted and compared. Early phase amyloid and tau PET (n = 58) were consistently found to be good indicators of N status with a median (IQR) correlation of 0.82 (0.76–0.86). Limited research (n = 7) was performed for amyloid or tau PET to infer both A and T status, with tau-based studies having slightly higher ROC AUC scores (0.88–0.99) than amyloid-based studies (0.84–0.9). Initial results are promising (median ROC AUC scores of 0.88 (0.81–0.96)) but need to be validated. FDG PET was found to be less accurate for A or T status (n = 12) prediction (median ROC AUC scores of 0.83 (0.80–0.87)). Among the modalities, tau PET seems to be the most promising candidate for a single tracer approach to predict all three biomarkers.
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APA 7th
Balot, E., Vandenberghe, S., Van Langenhove, T., De Meulenaere, V., D’Asseler, Y., & Van Weehaeghe, D. (2025). Correlation and Interchangeability of Amyloid, Tau, and Glucose Metabolism PET in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer: A Review. Brain Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15121271
Vancouver
Balot E, Vandenberghe S, Van Langenhove T, De Meulenaere V, D’Asseler Y, Van Weehaeghe D. Correlation and Interchangeability of Amyloid, Tau, and Glucose Metabolism PET in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer: A Review. Brain Sciences. 2025. doi:10.3390/brainsci15121271. PMID: 41440067.
BibTeX
@article{balot2025-41440067,
author = {Balot, Emile and Vandenberghe, Stefaan and Van Langenhove, Tim and De Meulenaere, Valerie and D’Asseler, Yves and Van Weehaeghe, Donatienne},
title = {{Correlation and Interchangeability of Amyloid, Tau, and Glucose Metabolism PET in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer: A Review}},
journal = {Brain Sciences},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3390/brainsci15121271},
pmid = {41440067},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15121271}
}
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.
Key findings
- Initial results are promising (median ROC AUC scores of 0.88 (0.81–0.96)) but need to be validated.
Why it matters
This review of 76 published studies found that early-phase amyloid and tau PET scans were consistently good at indicating neurodegeneration, and that limited research suggests a single PET scan might also help infer amyloid and tau status. The authors describe these initial results as promising but say they still need to be validated.
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Study details
- Participants58
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 37/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Brain Sciences) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Brain Sciences: journal h-index 115 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| 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 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 58 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 | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.6× 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 | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Donatienne Van Weehaeghe: h-index 23 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Ghent University: institution h-index 1,033 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41440067) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 37 / 100 | — |
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