Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41364889›Full record

Observational studyNeurology2026

Evaluating Plasma p-tau217 as an Endpoint for Alzheimer Disease Clinical Trials.

Pamela C L Ferreira, Bruna Bellaver, Guilherme Povala, Guilherme Bauer-Negrini, Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli, João Pedro Ferrari-Souza, Douglas T Leffa, Carolina Soares, Firoza Z Lussier, Marina Scop Medeiros and 19 more

Abstract readObservational StudyMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Neurology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

29 authors.

Pamela C L FerreiraDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0003-2134-9829
Bruna BellaverDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0002-2212-3373
Guilherme PovalaDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0002-2023-6569
Guilherme Bauer-NegriniDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Cristiano Schaffer AguzzoliDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
João Pedro Ferrari-SouzaGraduate Program in Biological Sciences: Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Douglas T LeffaDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0002-4890-8451
Carolina SoaresDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0002-2338-4495
Firoza Z LussierDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0002-6877-4825
Marina Scop MedeirosDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0009-0009-4237-4565
Cynthia FelixDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Emma RuppertDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0001-5877-5472
Francieli RohdenDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Wyllians Vendramini BorelliMemory Center, Hospital Moinhos de Vento, Porto Alegre, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0001-9282-0601
Helmet T KarimDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Rebecca LanghoughWisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Bradley T ChristianWisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Rachael WilsonWisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Chang Hyung HongDepartment of Psychiatry, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea.
Hyun Woong RohDepartment of Psychiatry, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea.
Riddhi PatiraDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Dana L TudorascuDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Eduardo R ZimmerGraduate Program in Biological Sciences: Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-5349-0053
Tobey J BetthauserWisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.ORCID 0000-0001-8856-1352
Thomas K KarikariDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0003-1422-4358
Beth E SnitzDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0002-9978-1374
Sterling C JohnsonWisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.ORCID 0000-0002-8501-545X
Sang Joon SonDepartment of Psychiatry, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea.
Tharick A PascoalDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.ORCID 0000-0001-9057-8014

Funding

Longitudinal multicenter head-to-head harmonization of tau PET tracersR01AG073267 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI BAKER, SUZANNE L, PASCOAL, THARICK · 2021 to 2025
$41.1M
Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention: Sex Differences in DNA MethylationR01AG027161 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Nathaniel Ark Chin, Sterling C Johnson · 2007 to 2026
$35.6M
The Longitudinal Course of Neural Function and Amyloid in People At Risk for ADR01AG021155 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Sterling C Johnson · 2004 to 2026
$27.0M
Head-to-head comparisons of high-performance plasma phospho-tau epitopes for the detection of Alzheimer's diseaseR01AG075336 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Tharick Pascoal · 2022 to 2026
$3.7M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG021155NIA NIH HHS R01 AG027161NIA NIH HHS R01 AG073267NIA NIH HHS R01 AG075336
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectivesPlasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) levels have been shown to parallel neurofibrillary tangle and cognitive decline over time. Although recent clinical trials have demonstrated exploratory drug effects on plasma p-tau217, little is known about plasma p-tau217 effect size and performance as an endpoint in Alzheimer disease (AD) clinical trials. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the longitudinal performance and potential utility of plasma p-tau217 as a primary endpoint in early-stage AD clinical trials.

methodThis retrospective study included participants from 4 cohorts: ADNI (a multisite observational study), BICWALZS (a South Korean memory clinic-based cohort), MYHAT-NI (a Southwestern Pennsylvania population-based cohort), and WRAP (older adults at risk for AD). Eligible participants had plasma p-tau217 measurements at least at 2 timepoints, along with baseline Aβ PET imaging and clinical assessments. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess associations between plasma p-tau217 trajectories and clinical or biomarker outcomes. Effect size was defined as the mean annual rate of change in p-tau217 divided by its standard deviation. We calculated the sample size required for a hypothetical clinical trial designed to detect a 25% drug effect with 80% power at a 0.05 test level.

resultsA total of 716 individuals were included in the analysis: 413 cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants (58.6% female; mean age = 70.6 years, SD = 7.9) and 303 cognitively impaired (CI) participants (54.7% female; mean age = 73.2 years, SD = 7.4). In Aβ-positive individuals, the annual rate of change in plasma p-tau217 was similar between CU (0.07 pg/mL/y, SD = 0.11) and CI (0.08 pg/mL/y, SD = 0.13) groups. Effect size was 0.64 and 0.62 in CU and CI Aβ-positive individuals, respectively. The minimum sample size required per study group to detect a 25% drug effect was 610 for the CU Aβ-positive and 664 for the CI Aβ-positive group. Notably, selecting individuals with intermediate Aβ levels (Centiloid 20-40) yielded higher effect sizes (CU: 0.85; CI: 0.72), which reduced the required sample sizes per study group to 342 for CU and 492 for CI. DISCUSSION: Our findings support that changes in plasma p-tau217 represent a robust endpoint for clinical trials targeting CU or CI individuals with Aβ pathology.

Indexed as

Alzheimer Diseasetau ProteinsAgedAged, 80 and overAmyloid beta-PeptidesBiomarkersClinical Trials as TopicFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMalePhosphorylationPositron-Emission TomographyRetrospective StudiesAmyloid beta-PeptidesBiomarkersMAPT protein, humantau Proteins

Identifiers

PMID41364889
PMCPMC12699484

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.