Diagnostic and predictive power of plasma proteins in Alzheimer's disease: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study in China

• Published in: Scientific reports 2024-07, Vol.14 (1), p.17557-10, Article 17557
• Main Authors: Li, Wei, Sun, Lin, Yue, Ling, Xiao, Shifu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/477; 692/53; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer disease; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Amyloid beta-Peptides - blood; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Blood Proteins - analysis; Blood Proteins - metabolism; Cerebrospinal fluid; China; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - blood; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnosis; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia; Dementia disorders; Female; Globus pallidus; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurofilament Proteins - blood; NfL; Older people; Peptide Fragments - blood; Peptide Fragments - cerebrospinal fluid; Plasma; Plasma proteins; Positron-Emission Tomography; Proteins; Regression analysis; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Simoa; Tau protein; tau Proteins - blood; tau Proteins - cerebrospinal fluid
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66195-7

Convenient and effective biomarkers are essential for the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the cross-sectional study, 103 patients with AD, 82 patients with aMCI and 508 normal controls (NC) were enrolled. The single‐molecule array (Simoa) technique was used to assess the levels of plasma proteins, including NfL, T-tau, P-tau-181, Aβ40, Aβ42. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was used to assess the overall cognitive function of all subjects. Moreover, Amyloid PET and structural head MRI were also performed in a subset of the population. In the follow-up, the previous 508 normal older adults were followed up for two years, then COX regression analysis was used to investigate the association between baseline plasma proteins and future cognitive outcomes. NfL, T-tau, P-tau-181, Aβ40, Aβ42 and Aβ42/40 were altered in AD dementia, and NfL, Aβ42 and Aβ42/40 significantly outperformed all plasma proteins in differentiating AD dementia from NC, while NfL and Aβ42/40 could effectively distinguish between aMCI and NC. However, only plasma NfL was associated with future cognitive decline, and it was negatively correlated with MoCA (r = − 0.298, p