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71/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 71 out of 100. Mild cognitive impairment

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

A combination of plasma phospho-tau (P-tau) and other accessible biomarkers might provide accurate prediction about the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. We examined this in participants with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment from the BioFINDER (n = 340) and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (n = 543) studies. Plasma P-tau, plasma Aβ42/Aβ40, plasma neurofilament light, APOE genotype, brief cognitive tests and an AD-specific magnetic resonance imaging measure were examined using progression to AD as outcome. Within 4 years, plasma P-tau217 predicted AD accurately (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.83) in BioFINDER. Combining plasma P-tau217, memory, executive function and APOE produced higher accuracy (AUC = 0.91, P < 0.001). In ADNI, this model had similar AUC (0.90) using plasma P-tau181 instead of P-tau217. The model was implemented online for prediction of the individual probability of progressing to AD. Within 2 and 6 years, similar models had AUCs of 0.90-0.91 in both cohorts. Using cerebrospinal fluid P-tau, Aβ42/Aβ40 and neurofilament light instead of plasma biomarkers did not improve the accuracy significantly. The clinical predictions by memory clinic physicians had significantly lower accuracy (4-year AUC = 0.71). In summary, plasma P-tau, in combination with brief cognitive tests and APOE genotyping, might greatly improve the diagnostic prediction of AD and facilitate recruitment for AD trials.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Palmqvist, S., Tideman, P., Cullen, N., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, et al. (2021). Prediction of future Alzheimer's disease dementia using plasma phospho-tau combined with other accessible measures. Nature medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01348-z

Vancouver

Palmqvist S, Tideman P, Cullen N, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, et al. Prediction of future Alzheimer's disease dementia using plasma phospho-tau combined with other accessible measures. Nature medicine. 2021. doi:10.1038/s41591-021-01348-z. PMID: 34031605.

BibTeX

@article{palmqvist2021-34031605,
  author  = {Palmqvist, S. and Tideman, P. and Cullen, N. and Zetterberg, H. and Blennow, K. and {Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative} and Dage, J. L. and Stomrud, E. and others},
  title   = {{Prediction of future Alzheimer's disease dementia using plasma phospho-tau combined with other accessible measures}},
  journal = {Nature medicine},
  year    = {2021},
  doi     = {10.1038/s41591-021-01348-z},
  pmid    = {34031605},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01348-z}
}

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Key findings

Using cerebrospinal fluid P-tau, Aβ42/Aβ40 and neurofilament light instead of plasma biomarkers did not improve the accuracy significantly.
The clinical predictions by memory clinic physicians had significantly lower accuracy (4-year AUC = 0.71).

Why it matters

A combination of plasma phospho-tau, brief cognitive tests and APOE genotype predicted progression to Alzheimer's dementia more accurately than memory clinic physicians' clinical predictions. This suggests a blood-based tool could improve prediction of who will develop dementia, though it is a prediction model and not a treatment.

Study details

Participants340
Effect sizeAUC = 0.91; AUC = 0.71
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 71/100

Published in a top-tier journal. Scored zero for study design and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	10 / 10	Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Nature medicine)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Nature Medicine: journal h-index 763 (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	3 / 5	2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	340 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)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 518 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	5 / 5	74.0 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021
Impact for its field and year	6 / 6	Cited 56.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	4 / 6	Cited by 70 other studies in this library
Still being cited	4 / 4	Cited 294 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Oskar Hansson: h-index 148 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 3 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34031605)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	71 / 100	—

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