ArticleJournal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry2023
Elevated plasma p-tau181 levels unrelated to Alzheimer's disease pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Article in Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.European journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Distribution of Big Tau Isoforms in the Human Central and Peripheral Nervous System.Annals of neurology · 2026Article
- Changes in five cerebrospinal fluid and three plasma Alzheimer's disease biomarkers across increasing brain amyloid-beta and tau pathology burden.Acta neuropathologica · 2026Article
- Plasma brain-derived p-Tau217 outperforms other p-Tau species in detecting abnormal brain amyloid in an Asian cohort of older people with cerebrovascular disease burden.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2026Observational
- Impact of Plasma p-tau181 on Cognition, Motor Phenotypes, and Disease Course in ALS.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2026Article
- Blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis: a joint position paper from the Italian Societies of Neurology (SIN) and of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology - Laboratory Medicine(SIBioC) and from the Autonomous Association affiliated with SIN for dementia (SINdem).Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Type 1 diabetes is associated with higher plasma levels of biomarkers of neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Beyond motor neurons: peripheral TDP-43 pathology in skeletal muscle and intramuscular nerves in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Brain communications · 2026Review
- Distribution of big tau isoforms in the human central and peripheral nervous system.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Plasma pTau181 and amyloid markers predict conversion to dementia in idiopathic REM sleep behaviour disorder.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025Article
- ALS plasma biomarkers reveal neurofilament and pTau correlate with disease onset and progression.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2025Article
- Comparative Performances of 4 Serum NfL Assays, pTau181, and GFAP in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.Neurology · 2025Article
- Phosphorylated tau 181 and 217 are elevated in serum and muscle of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Unveiling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis complexity: insights from proteomics, metabolomics and microbiomics.Brain communications · 2025Review
- Virtual reality navigation for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- ADNI Biomarker Core: A review of progress since 2004 and future challenges.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Plasma p-tau immunoassays in clinical research for Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Plasma biomarkers in chronic single moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Association of APOE genotype and cerebrospinal fluid Aβ and tau biomarkers with cognitive and motor phenotype in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.European journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Concussion-Related Biomarker Variations in Retired Rugby Players and Implications for Neurodegenerative Disease Risk: The UK Rugby Health Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhosphorylated-tau181 (p-tau181), a specific marker of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, was found elevated in plasma but not in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We expanded these findings in a larger patient cohort, exploring clinical/electrophysiological associations, prognostic value and longitudinal trajectories of the biomarker.
methodsWe obtained baseline plasma samples from 148 ALS, 12 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and 88 AD patients, and 60 healthy controls. Baseline CSF and longitudinal plasma samples were from 130 and 39 patients with ALS. CSF AD markers were measured with the Lumipulse platform, and plasma p-tau181 with SiMoA.
resultsPatients with ALS showed higher plasma p-tau181 levels than controls (p<0.001) and lower than AD participants (p=0.02). SMA patients had higher levels than controls (p=0.03). In patients with ALS, CSF p-tau and plasma p-tau181 did not correlate (p=0.37). Plasma p-tau181 significantly increased with the number of regions showing clinical/neurophysiological lower motor neurons (LMN) signs (p=0.007) and correlated with the degree of denervation in the lumbosacral area (r=0.51, p<0.0001). Plasma p-tau181 levels were higher in classic and LMN-predominant than in bulbar phenotype (p=0.004 and p=0.006). Multivariate Cox regression confirmed plasma p-tau181 as an independent prognostic factor in ALS (HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.90, p=0.003). Longitudinal analysis showed a significant rise in plasma p-tau181 values over time, especially in fast progressors.
conclusionsPlasma p-tau181 is elevated in patients with ALS, independently from CSF levels, and is firmly associated with LMN dysfunction. The finding indicates that p-tau181 of putative peripheral origin might represent a confounding factor in using plasma p-tau181 for AD pathology screening, which deserves further investigation.
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