Plasma P-Tau181 for the Discrimination of Alzheimer’s Disease from Other Primary Dementing and/or Movement Disorders

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 1099
• Main Authors: Tzartos, John S, Boufidou, Fotini, Stergiou, Christos, Kuhle, Jens, Willemse, Eline, Palaiodimou, Lina, Tsantzali, Ioanna, Sideri, Eleni, Bonakis, Anastasios, Giannopoulos, Sotirios, Voumvourakis, Konstantinos I, Tsivgoulis, Georgios, Tzartos, Socrates J, Kapaki, Elisabeth, Paraskevas, George P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 10-08-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Analysis; Analysis of covariance; Biomarkers; Blood; Care and treatment; Cerebrospinal fluid; Cognitive ability; Dementia; Diagnosis; Diagnosis, Differential; Diagnostic tests; Health aspects; Laboratories; Measurement; Medical examination; Methods; Movement disorders; Neurodegenerative diseases; phospho-tau; Plasma; Statistical analysis; Tau protein; Tau proteins; Greece; Belgium; United States > US; Germany
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom12081099

Blood phospho-tau181 may offer a useful biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. However, the use of either serum or plasma phospho-tau181 and their diagnostic value are currently under intense investigation. In a pilot study, we measured both serum and plasma phospho-tau181 (pT181-Tau) by single molecule array (Simoa) in a group of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and a mixed group of patients with other primary dementing and/or movement disorders. Classical cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers were also measured. Plasma (but not serum) pT181-Tau showed a significant increase in Alzheimer’s disease and correlated significantly with cerebrospinal fluid amyloid and pT181-Tau. Receiver operating curve analysis revealed a significant discrimination of Alzheimer’s from non-Alzheimer’s disease patients, with an area under the curve of 0.83 and an excellent sensitivity but a moderate specificity. Plasma pT181-Tau is not an established diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, but it could become one in the future, or it may serve as a screening tool for specific cases of patients or presymptomatic subjects.