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Refining Alzheimer's disease biological diagnosis with plasma biomarkers: Resolving p-tau217 "gray zone" with p-tau181 integration
Giulia Giacomucci, Silvia Maria Rita Tabbì, Assunta Ingannato, Silvia Bagnoli, Sonia Padiglioni, Chiara Crucitti, Chiara Sensi, Serena Sanesi et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2026-02-15
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Plasma p-tau217 demonstrated the strongest discrimination of Core1 positivity (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.95) and showed the steepest increase with disease progression. A two-cutoff strategy improved diagnostic accuracy (94%), though 18% of patients fell into the gray zone. Within this subgroup, p-tau181 was the only predictor of Core1 status and correctly reclassified 77.4% of indeterminate cases. These findings support a sequential plasma biomarkers approach for reliable AD detection.
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APA 7th
Giacomucci, G., Tabbì, S. M. R., Ingannato, A., Bagnoli, S., Padiglioni, S., Crucitti, C., et al. (2026). Refining Alzheimer's disease biological diagnosis with plasma biomarkers: Resolving p-tau217 "gray zone" with p-tau181 integration. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.70285
Vancouver
Giacomucci G, Tabbì SMR, Ingannato A, Bagnoli S, Padiglioni S, Crucitti C, et al. Refining Alzheimer's disease biological diagnosis with plasma biomarkers: Resolving p-tau217 "gray zone" with p-tau181 integration. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 2026. doi:10.1002/dad2.70285. PMID: 41700306.
BibTeX
@article{giacomucci2026-41700306,
author = {Giacomucci, Giulia and Tabbì, Silvia Maria Rita and Ingannato, Assunta and Bagnoli, Silvia and Padiglioni, Sonia and Crucitti, Chiara and Sensi, Chiara and Sanesi, Serena and others},
title = {{Refining Alzheimer's disease biological diagnosis with plasma biomarkers: Resolving p-tau217 "gray zone" with p-tau181 integration}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1002/dad2.70285},
pmid = {41700306},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.70285}
}
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Key findings
- Plasma p-tau217 demonstrated the strongest discrimination of Core1 positivity (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.95) and showed the steepest increase with disease progression.
- A two-cutoff strategy improved diagnostic accuracy (94%), though 18% of patients fell into the gray zone.
- Within this subgroup, p-tau181 was the only predictor of Core1 status and correctly reclassified 77.4% of indeterminate cases.
- These findings support a sequential plasma biomarkers approach for reliable AD detection.
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Study details
- Participants401
- Effect size77.4%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 61/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design 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 34 of the 56 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 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)) |
| 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 | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 401 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| 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 41700306) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 34 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 34 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 61 out of 100. |
| Total | 61 / 100 | — |
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