Work

Influence of cognitive impairment and race on plasma p‐Tau 217 in two diverse cohorts

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: INTRODUCTION Factors influencing plasma Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers remain incompletely understood. Here we evaluated Fujirebio plasma p‐Tau 217 in two diverse cohorts among whom 91% underwent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. METHODS Non‐Hispanic White (NHW, n = 113), Black/African American (B/AA, n = 66), and Chinese American (ChA, n = 38) participants recruited from two universities were included. We examined if plasma p‐Tau 217 correlated with CSF and clinical factors, differed between racial groups, and associated with novel CSF proteins. RESULTS CSF p‐Tau 181 strongly correlated with CSF p‐Tau 217 ( R 2 = 0.912) which moderately correlated with plasma p‐Tau 217 ( R 2 = 0.694). Plasma p‐Tau 217 levels were higher with greater cognitive impairment but lower in B/AA than NHW participants even after adjusting for CSF p‐Tau 181 . This resulted in greater positive predictive value for NHW than B/AA participants, and could be mediated by complement or lysosomal pathways. DISCUSSION Severity of cognitive impairment and race both influence plasma p‐Tau 217 levels beyond race‐associated differences in CSF p‐Tau 181 . Highlights Cognitive impairment associates with plasma p‐Tau 217 independent of CSF biomarkers. Black/African Americans had lower plasma p‐Tau 217 than non‐Hispanic White Americans. CSF p‐Tau 181 could not explain lower plasma p‐Tau 217 in Black/African Americans. Plasma p‐Tau 217 difference results in more false positive cases according to race. Novel CSF processes were associated with race‐related plasma p‐Tau 217 difference.

Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia

DOI: 10.1002/alz.14585