Plasma biomarkers predict Alzheimer’s disease before clinical onset in Chinese cohorts

Plasma amyloid-β (Aβ)42, phosphorylated tau (p-tau)181, and neurofilament light chain (NfL) are promising biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, whether these biomarkers can predict AD in Chinese populations is yet to be fully explored. We therefore tested the performance of these plasma biomarkers in 126 participants with preclinical AD and 123 controls with 8–10 years of follow-up from the China Cognition and Aging Study. Plasma Aβ42, p-tau181, and NfL were significantly correlated with cerebrospinal fluid counterparts and significantly altered in participants with preclinical AD. Combining plasma Aβ42, p-tau181, and NfL successfully discriminated preclinical AD from controls. These findings were validated in a replication cohort including 15 familial AD mutation carriers and 52 non-carriers from the familial Alzheimer’s Disease Network. Here we show that plasma Aβ42, p-tau181, and NfL may be useful for predicting AD 8 years before clinical onset in Chinese populations.

Huimin Cai, Yana Pang, Xiaofeng Fu, Ziye Ren, Longfei Jia