{"id":425316,"date":"2026-04-30T14:43:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/425316\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:43:07","slug":"blood-test-predicts-alzheimers-progression-in-cognitively-healthy-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/425316\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood Test Predicts Alzheimer\u2019s Progression in Cognitively Healthy Older Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study published in Nature Communications indicates that a blood test for the biomarker plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (pTau217<\/a>) can predict the progression of Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a> in cognitively healthy older adults.<\/p>\n

Researchers from Mass General Brigham found that pTau217 levels can signal future amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) scan changes and cognitive decline years before clear abnormalities appear on imaging or symptoms emerge. The findings suggest that blood-based biomarkers may offer a simpler, earlier method for disease prediction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to think that PET scan detection was the earliest sign of Alzheimer\u2019s disease progression, revealing amyloid accumulation in the brain 10 to 20 years before symptoms appear,\u201d says Hyun-Sik Yang<\/a>, MD, a neurologist with Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute and lead author of the study, in a release. \u201cBut now we are seeing that pTau217 can be detected years earlier, well before clear abnormalities appear on amyloid PET scans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Predicting Amyloid Accumulation<\/p>\n

The prospective cohort study followed 317 cognitively healthy older adults for an average of eight years. Participants, ranging in age from 50 to 90 years, underwent blood tests for pTau217, repeated amyloid and tau PET scans, and long-term cognitive testing.<\/p>\n

The research team examined whether baseline and changing pTau217 levels predicted future amyloid buildup and tau accumulation, which is the abnormal buildup of misfolded proteins inside brain neurons. The data showed that higher levels of pTau217 predicted a faster buildup of Alzheimer\u2019s pathology, even when initial brain scans appeared normal.<\/p>\n

Increases in the biomarker frequently occurred before PET scans became positive for amyloid. Furthermore, participants with low pTau217 levels at the start of the study were unlikely to accumulate significant amyloid-beta over the follow-up period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stood out in our study is that even when amyloid scans appear normal in the clinic, the pTau217 biomarker<\/a> can identify individuals who later become amyloid-positive,\u201d says Yang in a release. \u201cIt also shows that those with low pTau217 levels are likely to stay amyloid-negative for several years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinical and Research Implications<\/p>\n

While researchers note it is too early to recommend routine pTau217 testing for all older adults, the study suggests the biomarker could serve as a scalable screening tool for clinical trials focused on Alzheimer\u2019s prevention.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the first blood test for Alzheimer\u2019s disease. These diagnostic advancements provide less invasive and more affordable alternatives to lumbar punctures and PET scans.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the field is evolving quickly, we\u2019re excited to see discoveries on the research side being rapidly translated to clinical application,\u201d says Jasmeer Chhatwal<\/a>, MD, PhD, a neurologist with Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute and co-senior author, in a release. \u201cBy anticipating who\u2019s going to turn amyloid-positive in the future, we are trying to push back the clock to enable earlier Alzheimer\u2019s disease prediction.\u201d<\/p>\n

ID 434316450<\/a> \u00a9 Dahlia Begum<\/a> | Dreamstime.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study published in Nature Communications indicates that a blood test for the biomarker plasma phosphorylated tau…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[186017,186018,186019,15801,22727,2014,30239,35948,103,61,60,17173,6458,186020,186021,186022,186023],"class_list":["post-425316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-alzheimeru2019s-disease","tag-amyloid-pet-scan","tag-blood-biomarkers","tag-brain-imaging","tag-clinical-research","tag-cognitive-decline","tag-diagnostic-testing","tag-early-diagnosis","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-neurodegenerative-diseases","tag-neurology","tag-plasma-biomarkers","tag-predictive-medicine","tag-protein-biomarkers","tag-ptau217"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}