Gothenburg Researchers Identify 7 Blood Proteins to Sharpen Alzheimer's Staging
Updated
Updated · Newswise · Aug 12
Gothenburg Researchers Identify 7 Blood Proteins to Sharpen Alzheimer's Staging
3 articles · Updated · Newswise · Aug 12
Summary
A seven-protein blood panel — including p-tau217 — improved detection of advanced tau pathology in people who already had elevated amyloid levels, according to a JAMA Neurology study.
More than 120 inflammation and neuronal markers from a single blood sample were analyzed with machine learning across two independent international cohorts, showing broader protein profiles outperformed p-tau217 alone.
The researchers said the multi-protein approach could offer a practical alternative to tau-PET for staging Alzheimer's in clinical care and research, where blood tests are easier to deploy than PET scans or cerebrospinal fluid sampling.
Better staging could help identify later-stage disease earlier, improving treatment selection and screening for clinical trials as Alzheimer's care shifts toward biomarker-based diagnosis before dementia symptoms appear.