This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

47/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 47 out of 100. Tau biomarkers

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Research progress has provided detailed understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD). This knowledge has been translated into new drug candidates with putative disease-modifying effects, which are now being tested in clinical trials. The promise of effective therapy has created a great need for biomarkers able to detect AD in the predementia phase, because drugs will probably be effective only if neurodegeneration is not too advanced.

Key findings

This knowledge has been translated into new drug candidates with putative disease-modifying effects, which are now being tested in clinical trials.
The promise of effective therapy has created a great need for biomarkers able to detect AD in the predementia phase, because drugs will probably be effective only if neurodegeneration is not too advanced.
In this chapter, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma biomarkers are reviewed.
The core CSF biomarkers total tau (T-tau), phosphorylated tau (P-tau) and the 42 amino acid form of β-amyloid (Aβ42) reflect AD pathology, and have high diagnostic accuracy to diagnose AD with dementia and prodromal AD in mild cognitive impairment cases.

Why it matters

This review chapter discusses cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer disease and the need to detect the disease in its predementia phase, because drugs will probably work only if neurodegeneration is not too advanced. It is a review of biomarkers and does not report a tested treatment, cure, or prevention.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 47/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on impact for its field and year, so that was left out: it earned 44 of the 94 points we could judge it on, which is 47 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine: journal h-index 197 (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	1 / 5	2012 — within 20 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	5 / 7	Cited 210 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	13.1 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012
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	3 / 6	Cited by 12 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 22 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Anne M. Fagan: h-index 122 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22951438)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	44 / 94	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 44 of the 94 points we could judge it on is 47 out of 100.
Total	47 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

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

Blennow, K., Zetterberg, H., & Fagan, A. M. (2012). Fluid biomarkers in Alzheimer disease. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a006221

Vancouver

Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Fagan AM. Fluid biomarkers in Alzheimer disease. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. 2012. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a006221. PMID: 22951438.

BibTeX

@article{blennow2012-22951438,
  author  = {Blennow, K. and Zetterberg, H. and Fagan, A. M.},
  title   = {{Fluid biomarkers in Alzheimer disease}},
  journal = {Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1101/cshperspect.a006221},
  pmid    = {22951438},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a006221}
}

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 68.

Later studies that cite this one

12 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.

Related studies in Tau 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.

Similar studies

More on Tau biomarkers

See all studies in Tau biomarkers →