Home › Research › Biomarkers
Evaluation of a panel of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in a diverse research cohort
Kelly N. Dubois, Subhamoy Pal, Jonathan M. Reader, Brianna M. Jackman, Matthew Perkins, Nahla Khobeir, Kelly M. Bakulski, Judith L. Heidebrink et al.. Journal of Alzheimer s Disease, 2025-11-10
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background Plasma biomarkers show significant promise for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnostics and risk prediction, however, much less is known about how these assays perform in a diverse research cohort of older adults. Objective To compare plasma biomarkers with clinical diagnoses and assess variability by demographic factors in a diverse research cohort. Methods Among 331 University of Michigan Memory and Aging Project (UM-MAP) participants, plasma biomarkers (pTau-217, pTau-181, GFAP, NfL, Aβ 42 , Aβ 40 , t-Tau) were measured. Demographic information (age, sex, education, race) was self-reported. Clinical consensus phenotypes (dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), cognitively unimpaired (CU) were based on neuropsychological assessments. Logistic regression with machine learning for model variable selection was used to compare participants by clinical phenotypes. Results Comparing CU and DAT participants, areas under the curve (AUCs) from receiver operator characteristic curves of single biomarker models ranged from 0.74–0.89. Optimal performance (AUC 99.7) was observed from stepwise regression with backward selection, which identified pTau-217, GFAP, sex, education, APOE ε4 allele, and race as model variables. When comparing MCI and DAT participants, only pTau-217 differed significantly (AUC 0.80). pTau-181 and pTau-217 levels were higher in white participants than Black/African American participants across all clinical phenotypes. Conclusions Plasma biomarkers demonstrate promise for improving diagnostic accuracy in diverse research cohorts. Incorporating demographic variables facilitates enhanced interpretability of biomarker levels and the development of reference ranges.
Key findings
- Background Plasma biomarkers show significant promise for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnostics and risk prediction, however, much less is known about how these assays perform in a diverse research cohort of older adults.
- Results Comparing CU and DAT participants, areas under the curve (AUCs) from receiver operator characteristic curves of single biomarker models ranged from 0.74–0.89.
- When comparing MCI and DAT participants, only pTau-217 differed significantly (AUC 0.80). pTau-181 and pTau-217 levels were higher in white participants than Black/African American participants across all clinical phenotypes.
Why it matters
In a diverse cohort, single plasma biomarkers distinguished cognitively unimpaired from Alzheimer-type dementia participants with moderate accuracy, and a multi-variable model performed best. This is a diagnostic comparison and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Effect sizeAUC 99.7; AUC 0.80
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer s Disease) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of Alzheimer s Disease: journal h-index 218 (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 | 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 | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| 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 | 1 / 7 | Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Nicholas M. Kanaan: h-index 46 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Michigan: institution h-index 2,240 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41212652) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
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's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Dubois, K. N., Pal, S., Reader, J. M., Jackman, B. M., Perkins, M., Khobeir, N., et al. (2025). Evaluation of a panel of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in a diverse research cohort. Journal of Alzheimer s Disease. https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251393405
Vancouver
Dubois KN, Pal S, Reader JM, Jackman BM, Perkins M, Khobeir N, et al. Evaluation of a panel of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in a diverse research cohort. Journal of Alzheimer s Disease. 2025. doi:10.1177/13872877251393405. PMID: 41212652.
BibTeX
@article{dubois2025-41212652,
author = {Dubois, Kelly N. and Pal, Subhamoy and Reader, Jonathan M. and Jackman, Brianna M. and Perkins, Matthew and Khobeir, Nahla and Bakulski, Kelly M. and Heidebrink, Judith L. and others},
title = {{Evaluation of a panel of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease in a diverse research cohort}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer s Disease},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1177/13872877251393405},
pmid = {41212652},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251393405}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 36.
Later studies that cite this one
1 study in the alzhub library lists this one in its references.
Related studies in Biomarkers
Also tagged “biomarkers”
821 studies in the library carry the topic tag “biomarkers”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 821 tagged studies.