New Alzheimer's blood test could be used to stage dementia, study finds

Very important blood test for Alzheimer’s is created.

Matt Kaeberlein describes in the RadioLab podcast “The Dirty Drug in the Ice Cream Tub” - Alzheimer’s is caused by tangled proteins and plaques… rapamycin prevents this from happening.

Tau is a protein that clumps together and forms “tangles” in the brains of people who have Alzheimer’s, per Healthline. These tangles interfere with cognitive function.

Tau is a protein that clumps together and forms “tangles” in the brains of people who have Alzheimer’s, per Healthline. These tangles interfere with cognitive function.

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Paper: Plasma MTBR-tau243 biomarker identifies tau tangle pathology in Alzheimer’s disease 2025

Insoluble tau aggregates within neurofibrillary tangles are a defining neuropathological feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and closely correlate with clinical symptoms. Although tau pathology can be assessed using tau positron emission tomography, a more accessible biomarker is needed for diagnosis, prognosis and tracking treatment effects. Here we present a new plasma tau species, the endogenously cleaved, microtubule-binding region containing residue 243 (eMTBR-tau243), which specifically reflects tau tangle pathology. Across the AD spectrum in three different cohorts (n = 108, 55 and 739), plasma eMTBR-tau243 levels were significantly elevated at the mild cognitive impairment stage and increased further in dementia. Plasma eMTBR-tau243 showed strong associations with tau positron emission tomography binding (β = 0.72, R2 = 0.56) and cognitive performance (β = 0.60, R2 = 0.40), outperforming other plasma tau (%p-tau217 and %p-tau205) biomarkers. These results suggest that plasma eMTBR-tau243 may be useful for estimating the tauopathy load in AD, thereby improving the diagnostic evaluation of AD in clinical practice and monitoring the efficacy of tau-targeted therapies in clinical trials.

Press release: Highly accurate blood test diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease, measures extent of dementia

The R2 are not that impressive. Not sure if this will be really useful.

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