Detecting amyloid positivity in early Alzheimer's disease using combinations of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and p‐tau
Shorena Janelidze, Sebastian Palmqvist, Antoine Leuzy, Erik Stomrud, Inge M.W. Verberk, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicholas J. Ashton, Pedro Pesini, Leticia Sarasa, José Antonio Allué, Charlotte E. Teunissen, Jeffrey L. Dage, Kaj Blennow, Niklas Mattsson, Oskar Hansson
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: We studied usefulness of combining blood amyloid beta (Aβ)42/Aβ40, phosphorylated tau (p-tau)217, and neurofilament light (NfL) to detect abnormal brain Aβ deposition in different stages of early Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Plasma biomarkers were measured using mass spectrometry (Aβ42/Aβ40) and immunoassays (p-tau217 and NfL) in cognitively unimpaired individuals (CU, N = 591) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, N = 304) from two independent cohorts (BioFINDER-1, BioFINDER-2). RESULTS: In CU, a combination of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau217 detected abnormal brain Aβ status with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.83 to 0.86. In MCI, the models including p-tau217 alone or Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau217 had similar AUCs (0.86-0.88); however, the latter showed improved model fit. The models were implemented in an online application providing individualized risk assessments (https://brainapps.shinyapps.io/PredictABplasma/). DISCUSSION: A combination of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau217 discriminated Aβ status with relatively high accuracy, whereas p-tau217 showed strongest associations with Aβ pathology in MCI but not in CU.