A new study has confirmed that a minimally invasive blood test can accurately detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease in Asian populations, even in individuals with concurrent cerebrovascular disease—a significant finding that could transform early diagnosis across diverse populations.
For individuals concerned about memory loss, this test could provide crucial early answers without requiring expensive brain scans or invasive spinal taps, which have traditionally been the gold standard for diagnosis.
“This study provides strong evidence that plasma p-tau217 could be a game-changer for early detection of AD brain changes in Asian populations with high CeVD burden,” said Professor Christopher Chen, Director of the Memory, Ageing and Cognition Centre at NUHS and co-author of the study.
The research carries special significance for Asian populations, which typically have a higher prevalence of cerebrovascular disease—a condition involving damaged blood vessels in the brain that can contribute to dementia. Previous research on similar blood tests has primarily focused on Western populations where this complication is less common.
Led by Dr. Mitchell Lai from the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the study demonstrated that the p-tau217 blood test outperformed routine clinical assessments and other blood biomarkers for identifying Alzheimer’s pathology.
The test was surprisingly accurate, with a 94% negative predictive value (correctly identifying individuals without Alzheimer’s) and 82% positive predictive value (correctly identifying those with Alzheimer’s pathology). This level of accuracy approaches that of much more expensive PET scans.
Perhaps most importantly, the test could drastically reduce the need for confirmatory PET scans to just 10% of cases, compared to at least 40% with routine clinical assessments. For health systems with limited resources or in regions where advanced imaging technology is less accessible, this represents a significant advancement.
“Although blood biomarkers are not expected to replace the current gold standard in clinical measures such as amyloid PET, their greatest value may lie in providing a cost-effective, minimally-invasive screening and risk-stratification tool to help reduce the proportion of individuals requiring confirmatory PET scans,” explained Dr. Joyce Chong, first author of the study and Research Fellow with the Department of Pharmacology at NUS Medicine.
The findings also revealed that individuals with higher plasma p-tau217 levels experienced faster cognitive decline over time, suggesting the test’s potential value not just for diagnosis but also for predicting disease progression.
The study included 215 participants from Singapore with varying cognitive abilities, from normal cognition to dementia. Remarkably, over 70% of participants had some form of cerebrovascular disease, making these results particularly relevant to similar populations across Asia.
For physicians treating diverse populations, the test offers a new tool that could democratize access to early diagnosis—potentially allowing for earlier interventions and better management of this devastating condition.
Looking ahead, Dr. Lai envisions expanding the research: “There is increasing awareness that dementia is a chronic condition arising from complex, interacting processes, especially in our population where CeVD is likely to be an important contributor to the cognitive impairments associated with AD. Our long-term goal is to be able to produce a panel of multi-modal, clinically useful biomarkers which can both suggest novel therapeutic targets as well as help in the diagnosis and prognosis of this debilitating condition.”
With Alzheimer’s disease affecting millions globally and its prevalence expected to increase dramatically in aging populations, particularly in Asia, this accessible approach to early diagnosis represents a vital step forward in addressing a growing public health challenge.
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