Home › Research › Biomarkers
Plasma phosphorylated tau217 strongly associates with memory deficits in the Alzheimer's disease spectrum
Jaime Fernández Arias, Wagner S Brum, Gemma Salvadó, Joseph Therriault, Stijn Servaes, Yi-Ting Wang, Etienne Aumont, Nesrine Rahmouni et al.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2025-07-07
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
We found that plasma p-tau217 was more associated with cognitive performance than p-tau181 and p-tau231 and that this relationship was particularly strong for memory scores (TRIAD: βp-tau217 = -0.53, βp-tau181 = -0.35 and βp-tau231 = -0.24; BioFINDER-2: βp-tau217 = -0.52, βp-tau181 = -0.24 and βp-tau231 = -0.29). Associations in amyloid-β-positive participants resembled these results, but other cognitive scores also showed strong associations in cognitively impaired individuals. Lastly, we showed that subtle memory deficits were present in A+T1+T2- participants for plasma p-tau217 (P = 0.007) and plasma p-tau181 (P = 0.01) in the TRIAD cohort and for all biomarkers across cognitive domains in A+T1+T2- and A+T1+T2- individuals (P < 0.001 in all) in the BioFINDER-2 cohort. Together, our results suggest that plasma p-tau217 stands out as a biomarker capable of identifying memory deficits attributable to Alzheimer's disease and that memory impairment certainly occurs in amyloid-β- and plasma p-tau-positive individuals who have no significant amounts of tau in the neocortex.
Key findings
- We found that plasma p-tau217 was more associated with cognitive performance than p-tau181 and p-tau231 and that this relationship was particularly strong for memory scores (TRIAD: βp-tau217 = -0.53, βp-tau181 = -0.35 and βp-tau231 = -0.24; BioFINDER-2: βp-tau217 = -0.52, βp-tau181 = -0.24 and βp-tau231 = -0.29).
- Associations in amyloid-β-positive participants resembled these results, but other cognitive scores also showed strong associations in cognitively impaired individuals.
- Lastly, we showed that subtle memory deficits were present in A+T1+T2- participants for plasma p-tau217 (P = 0.007) and plasma p-tau181 (P = 0.01) in the TRIAD cohort and for all biomarkers across cognitive domains in A+T1+T2- and A+T1+T2- individuals (P < 0.001 in all) in the BioFINDER-2 cohort.
- Together, our results suggest that plasma p-tau217 stands out as a biomarker capable of identifying memory deficits attributable to Alzheimer's disease and that memory impairment certainly occurs in amyloid-β- and plasma p-tau-positive individuals who have no significant amounts of tau in the neocortex.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants103
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 66/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported 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, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 37 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 66 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology) |
| 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 | 103 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 | — / 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 39879633) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 37 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 37 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 66 out of 100. |
| Total | 66 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
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
Arias, J. F., Brum, W. S., Salvadó, G., Therriault, J., Servaes, S., Wang, Y.-T., et al. (2025). Plasma phosphorylated tau217 strongly associates with memory deficits in the Alzheimer's disease spectrum. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf033
Vancouver
Arias JF, Brum WS, Salvadó G, Therriault J, Servaes S, Wang Y.-T, et al. Plasma phosphorylated tau217 strongly associates with memory deficits in the Alzheimer's disease spectrum. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2025. doi:10.1093/brain/awaf033. PMID: 39879633.
BibTeX
@article{arias2025-39879633,
author = {Arias, Jaime Fernández and Brum, Wagner S and Salvadó, Gemma and Therriault, Joseph and Servaes, Stijn and Wang, Yi-Ting and Aumont, Etienne and Rahmouni, Nesrine and others},
title = {{Plasma phosphorylated tau217 strongly associates with memory deficits in the Alzheimer's disease spectrum}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1093/brain/awaf033},
pmid = {39879633},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf033}
}