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A workforce of researchers on the Sant Pau Analysis Institute (IR Sant Pau) has demonstrated that the plasma biomarker p-tau217, obtained by way of a easy blood take a look at, can predict the medical development of Alzheimer’s illness even in its earliest levels, when signs aren’t but evident. The examine, printed within the journal Neurology, reinforces the function of blood assessments in the way forward for diagnosing and monitoring dementias.
The examine, performed throughout the framework of the SPIN cohort (Sant Pau Initiative on Neurodegeneration), included 731 people with and with out cognitive impairment who had been adopted for a median of as much as 10 years.
The researchers analyzed ranges of p-tau217—a particular type of the tau protein related to neurodegeneration—and noticed that this marker not solely correlates with the presence of Alzheimer’s illness but additionally allows prediction of the speed of cognitive decline and development to extra superior levels of the illness, together with dementia.
“This marker has enormous potential as a clinical tool. It not only accurately identifies Alzheimer’s disease, but also allows us to estimate how fast it will progress—an essential factor in making therapeutic decisions,” says Dr. Ignacio Illán, researcher within the Neurobiology of Dementia group and neurologist at Sant Pau Hospital, who led the examine.
For her half, Judit Selma-González, first creator and analysis neuropsychologist, additionally from the Neurobiology of Dementia group, highlights that “one of the most relevant findings is that p-tau217 allows us to identify people who do not yet have cognitive symptoms but are at higher risk of developing the disease in the short or medium term. This can help us better select patients eligible to participate in clinical trials of disease-modifying treatments.”
An accessible different
Till now, essentially the most dependable biomarkers for detecting and monitoring Alzheimer’s illness have required invasive methods corresponding to lumbar puncture (to research cerebrospinal fluid) or expensive procedures corresponding to positron emission tomography (PET). Using plasma p-tau217 gives a noninvasive, extra accessible, and inexpensive different with each medical and analysis purposes.
The examine confirmed that p-tau217 ranges elevated progressively from the preclinical levels to the superior levels of dementia, and had been independently related to a better danger of cognitive decline (measured, amongst different instruments, with the Mini-Psychological State Examination) and conversion to dementia. In actual fact, the marker confirmed higher prognostic skill than its cerebrospinal fluid equal, p-tau181, which is extensively used as we speak.
Medical purposes and a promising future
This advance is especially related within the present context, the place disease-modifying therapies—corresponding to anti-amyloid antibodies—are already being authorized, and their use depends upon the stage of Alzheimer’s illness development. The opportunity of utilizing a blood take a look at to find out this medical stage and monitor its development represents a serious step towards extra customized and exact drugs.
“In a memory clinic, having access to this information through a blood test opens up possibilities that were previously limited to highly specialized centers,” notes Dr. Illán.
Extra info:
Judit Selma-Gonzalez et al, Affiliation of Plasma Phosphorylated Tau 217 With Medical Deterioration Throughout Alzheimer Illness Levels, Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213769
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New blood biomarker predicts development of Alzheimer’s illness even in its earliest levels (2025, July 7)
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