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Plasma biomarkers for diagnosis and differentiation and their cognitive correlations in patients with Alzheimer's disease
Sun W, Ye S, Wang Y, Chen H, Che P, Chen J, Zhang N.. Brain communications, 2025-02-25
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Increasing evidence has shown the potential value of plasma biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic and differential values of emerging plasma biomarkers for different types of dementia in a Chinese population and to explore their cognitive correlations. One hundred twenty patients with dementia, including 51 Alzheimer's disease patients, 54 subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia (SIVD) patients and 15 frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients were recruited alongside 27 cognitively unimpaired (CU) control subjects. Global and domain-specific cognition was assessed in all participants by a battery of neuropsychological tests. Plasma amyloid-beta (Αβ)42, Aβ40 and total tau (in CU controls and Alzheimer's disease patients) and phosphorylated tau at threonine-181 ( P -tau181), neurofilament light (NfL) and glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP) levels (in all participants) were measured using the single-molecule array platform. The levels of all biomarkers differed between Alzheimer's disease patients and CU controls, with P -tau181 and GFAP levels and the Aβ42/P-tau181 ratio best differentiating the two groups [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.966, 0.932 and 0.927, respectively]. P-tau181 and GFAP levels were greater in the Alzheimer's disease group than in the other two patient groups and showed the best performance in distinguishing Alzheimer's disease patients from SIVD (AUC = 0.922) and FTLD patients (AUC = 0.894), respectively. Moreover, compared with that in the CU group, the GFAP level was elevated in the SIVD group, and the NfL level was elevated in all patient groups. Compared with other single biomarkers, the plasma Aβ42/P-tau181 ratio correlated with broader cognitive domains, including global cognition [Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), r = 0.314, P = 0.027; Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), r = 0.313, P = 0.043], memory ( r = 0.339, P = 0.016), language ( r = 0.333, P = 0.020), attention and information processing speed ( r = 0.369, P = 0.008), executive function ( r = 0.305, P = 0.031) and visuospatial function memory ( r = 0.453, P = 0.001). P-tau181 was an optimal plasma biomarker for identifying Alzheimer's disease patients and differentiating Alzheimer's disease patients from SIVD and FTLD patients. Moreover, the GFAP level and the Aβ42/P-tau181 ratio showed potential diagnostic and progression monitoring value, respectively, for Alzheimer's disease patients.
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APA 7th
Sun, W., Ye, S., Wang, Y., Chen, H., Che, P., Chen, J., et al. (2025). Plasma biomarkers for diagnosis and differentiation and their cognitive correlations in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Brain communications. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcaf094
Vancouver
Sun W, Ye S, Wang Y, Chen H, Che P, Chen J, et al. Plasma biomarkers for diagnosis and differentiation and their cognitive correlations in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Brain communications. 2025. doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcaf094. PMID: 40046335.
BibTeX
@article{sun2025-40046335,
author = {Sun, W. and Ye, S. and Wang, Y. and Chen, H. and Che, P. and Chen, J. and Zhang, N.},
title = {{Plasma biomarkers for diagnosis and differentiation and their cognitive correlations in patients with Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Brain communications},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1093/braincomms/fcaf094},
pmid = {40046335},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcaf094}
}
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 names 7 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.
Key findings
- Moreover, compared with that in the CU group, the GFAP level was elevated in the SIVD group, and the NfL level was elevated in all patient groups.
- Compared with other single biomarkers, the plasma Aβ42/P-tau181 ratio correlated with broader cognitive domains, including global cognition [Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), r = 0.314, P = 0.027; Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), r = 0.313, P = 0.043], memory ( r = 0.339, P = 0.016), language ( r = 0.333, P = 0.020), attention and information processing speed ( r = 0.369, P = 0.008), executive function ( r = 0.305, P = 0.031) and visuospatial function memory ( r = 0.453, P = 0.001).
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Study details
- Effect sizeAUC = 0.922; AUC = 0.894
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 53/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded 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, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 31 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 53 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain communications) |
| 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 | 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 | — / 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 | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| 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 | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40046335) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 31 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 53 out of 100. |
| Total | 53 / 100 | — |
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