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Plasma biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders: ready for prime time?
Balogun WG, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Karikari TK.. Current opinion in psychiatry, 2023-01-16
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Purpose of review Several plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) have demonstrated clinical and technical robustness. However, are they ready for clinical implementation? This review critically appraises current evidence for and against the immediate use of plasma biomarkers in clinical care. Recent findings Plasma biomarkers have significantly improved our understanding of ADRD time-course, risk factors, diagnosis and prognosis. These advances are accelerating the development and in-human testing of therapeutic candidates, and the selection of individuals with subtle biological evidence of disease who fit the criteria for early therapeutic targeting. However, standardized tests and well validated cut-off values are lacking. Moreover, some assays (e.g., plasma Aβ methods) have poor robustness to withstand inevitable day-to-day technical variations. Additionally, recent reports suggest that common comorbidities of aging (e.g., kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension) can erroneously affect plasma biomarker levels, clinical utility and generalizability. Furthermore, it is unclear if health disparities can explain reported racial/ethnic differences in biomarker levels and functions. Finally, current clinically approved plasma methods are more expensive than CSF assays, questioning their cost effectiveness. Summary Plasma biomarkers have biological and clinical capacity to detect ADRD. However, their widespread use requires issues around thresholds, comorbidities and diverse populations to be addressed.
Key findings
- Purpose of review Several plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) have demonstrated clinical and technical robustness.
- Recent findings Plasma biomarkers have significantly improved our understanding of ADRD time-course, risk factors, diagnosis and prognosis.
- Additionally, recent reports suggest that common comorbidities of aging (e.g., kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension) can erroneously affect plasma biomarker levels, clinical utility and generalizability.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
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 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 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Current opinion in psychiatry) |
| 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 | 3 / 5 | 2023 — within 6 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 | — / 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 36607770) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
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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. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Balogun, W. G., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., & Karikari, T. K. (2023). Plasma biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders: ready for prime time? Current opinion in psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1097/yco.0000000000000851
Vancouver
Balogun WG, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Karikari TK. Plasma biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders: ready for prime time? Current opinion in psychiatry. 2023. doi:10.1097/yco.0000000000000851. PMID: 36607770.
BibTeX
@article{balogun2023-36607770,
author = {Balogun, W. G. and Zetterberg, H. and Blennow, K. and Karikari, T. K.},
title = {{Plasma biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders: ready for prime time?}},
journal = {Current opinion in psychiatry},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1097/yco.0000000000000851},
pmid = {36607770},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/yco.0000000000000851}
}
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