Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42104655›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurochemistry2026

Circulating Sphingomyelins Correlate With Plasma T-Tau in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults at Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease.

Tahmida Sharmin, James D Doecke, Pratishtha Chatterjee, Steve Pedrini, Hamid R Sohrabi, Nicholas J Ashton, Henrik Zetterberg, Manohar L Garg, Kaj Blennow, Ralph N Martins

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurochemistry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

10 authors.

Tahmida SharminMacquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5496-0670
James D DoeckeAustralian eHealth Research Centre, CSIRO, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2863-0293
Pratishtha ChatterjeeMacquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4877-1958
Steve PedriniSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6409-8022
Hamid R SohrabiMacquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8017-8682
Nicholas J AshtonDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6353-9316
Henrik ZetterbergDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3930-4354
Manohar L GargMacquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0514-0865
Kaj BlennowDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1890-4193
Ralph N MartinsMacquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4828-9363

Funding

European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme 101053962Macquarie University HDR Fund, Macquarie UniversityMQ Research Seeding Grant, Macquarie University 2017-00915MQ Research Seeding Grant, Macquarie University 2018-02532MQ Research Seeding Grant, Macquarie University 201809-2016862MQ Research Seeding Grant, Macquarie University 681712MQ Research Seeding Grant, Macquarie University FO2017-0243MQ Research Seeding Grant, Macquarie University JPND2019-466-236Swedish Research Council 2019-02397
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Alterations in plasma sphingomyelin (SM) levels have been reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD), pointing to disturbances in lipid metabolism that may contribute to disease pathogenesis. Neuronal damage in early AD triggers tau release into central and peripheral systems. Despite influence from peripheral contributions, alterations in plasma total-tau (T-tau) remain valuable in indicating AD-related neurodegeneration. Investigating relationships between SM metabolism and tau release during preclinical AD may uncover important biochemical processes and support advancing early non-invasive detection and treatment approaches. This cross-sectional study investigated cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults from the KARVIAH cohort, grouped by cortical amyloid-β (Aβ) status through positron emission tomography (PET) imaging (CU Aβ- and CU Aβ+) and utilised a Biocrates-targeted metabolomic platform and Single-molecule array (Simoa) technology to quantify plasma levels of SMs and T-tau, respectively. Associations between circulating SMs and T-tau were examined within each group, with T-tau-associated SMs further evaluated for their association with cognitive performance and cortical Aβ burden and their potential to discriminate CU Aβ+ from CU Aβ- individuals. Significant positive correlations were observed between SMs and T-tau levels exclusively in CU Aβ+ individuals, suggesting connections between SM-mediated biochemical pathways and tau release from early neurodegeneration in preclinical AD. Lower SM levels were associated with weaker working memory and executive function, as well as poorer global cognition, indicating their potential predictive value for weaker cognitive performance. Moreover, SMs were also inversely associated with cortical Aβ load in CU Aβ+ individuals, possibly reflecting early SM-mediated neuroprotective responses against AD pathogenesis. Receiver operating characteristic analysis further revealed the significant potential of the SM panel in distinguishing cortical PET-Aβ status and enhancing the predictive performance of plasma T-tau in CU individuals. Therefore, circulating T-tau-associated SMs may serve as promising early biomarkers of lipid-mediated processes in CU older adults with cortical amyloid pathology and tau-related neurodegeneration.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseCognitionSphingomyelinstau ProteinsAgedAged, 80 and overAmyloid beta-PeptidesBiomarkersCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMalePositron-Emission TomographyAmyloid beta-PeptidesBiomarkersMAPT protein, humanSphingomyelinstau Proteins

Identifiers

PMID42104655
PMCPMC13156478

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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.