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Pittsburgh plasma p-tau217: Classification accuracies for autosomal dominant and sporadic Alzheimer's disease in the community
Anuradha Sehrawat, Xuemei Zeng, Eric E. Abrahamson, Rebecca A. Deek, Alexandra Gogola, M. Ilyas Kamboh, Tharick A. Pascoal, Victor L. Villemagne, Oscar L. Lopez, Milos D. Ikonomovic, Beth E. Snitz, Ann D. Cohen, Thomas K. Karikari. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2025-07-15
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed a new plasma p-tau217 test (using a different antibody than existing commercial tests) and validated it in 363 people, including some with genetic early-onset Alzheimer's mutations and community-dwelling older adults. The new assay performed comparably to the established ALZpath commercial assay, distinguishing genetic mutation carriers from non-carriers very accurately and amyloid-positive from amyloid-negative cognitively normal adults reasonably well.
Key findings
- 363 participants across three cohorts, including familial (PSEN1 mutation) and general community cohorts
- AUC of 0.94 distinguishing PSEN1 mutation carriers from controls
- AUC up to 0.84 separating amyloid-positive from amyloid-negative cognitively normal adults
- Strong correlation (0.93) with the established ALZpath p-tau217 assay
Why it matters
A newly developed plasma p-tau217 test distinguished genetic mutation carriers from non-carriers very accurately and separated amyloid-positive from amyloid-negative cognitively normal adults reasonably well, performing comparably to an established commercial assay. This is a cross-sectional diagnostic validation, so it addresses detection rather than treatment or prevention.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants363
- Effect sizeAUC 0.94 (PSEN1 carriers vs. controls); AUC up to 0.84 (amyloid-positive vs. amyloid-negative cognitively normal adults); correlation r=0.93 with the ALZpath assay
- Evidence strengthModerate
Limitations
Small familial-mutation subgroup; compared against only one existing commercial assay.
How this study scored 61/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded and indexed in PubMed because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 38 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 61 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 363 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| 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 | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| 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 | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 0 / 2 | No PubMed ID and no DOI — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 38 / 62 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 38 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 61 out of 100. |
| Total | 61 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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. The record names 13 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Sehrawat, A., Zeng, X., Abrahamson, E. E., Deek, R. A., Gogola, A., Kamboh, M. I., et al. (2025). Pittsburgh plasma p-tau217: Classification accuracies for autosomal dominant and sporadic Alzheimer's disease in the community. Alzheimer's & Dementia.
Vancouver
Sehrawat A, Zeng X, Abrahamson EE, Deek RA, Gogola A, Kamboh MI, et al. Pittsburgh plasma p-tau217: Classification accuracies for autosomal dominant and sporadic Alzheimer's disease in the community. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2025.
BibTeX
@article{sehrawat2025-e4bc0f72,
author = {Sehrawat, Anuradha and Zeng, Xuemei and Abrahamson, Eric E. and Deek, Rebecca A. and Gogola, Alexandra and Kamboh, M. Ilyas and Pascoal, Tharick A. and Villemagne, Victor L. and Lopez, Oscar L. and Ikonomovic, Milos D. and Snitz, Beth E. and Cohen, Ann D. and Karikari, Thomas K.},
title = {{Pittsburgh plasma p-tau217: Classification accuracies for autosomal dominant and sporadic Alzheimer's disease in the community}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& Dementia},
year = {2025}
}
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