Ricerc@Sapienza

Background
Plasma neurofilament light (NFL) and total Tau (t-Tau) proteins are candidate biomarkers for early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The impact of biological factors on their plasma concentrations in individuals with subjective memory complaints (SMC) has been poorly explored. We longitudinally investigate the effect of sex, age, APOE ε4 allele, comorbidities, brain amyloid-β (Aβ) burden, and cognitive scores on plasma NFL and t-Tau concentrations in cognitively healthy individuals with SMC, a condition associated with AD development.

Introduction: Several neurodegenerative brain proteinopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), are associated with cerebral deposition of insoluble aggregates of α-synuclein. Previous studies reported a trend toward increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) α-synuclein (α-syn) concentrations in AD compared with other neurodegenerative diseases and healthy controls. Methods: The pathophysiological role of CSF α-syn in asymptomatic subjects at risk of AD has not been explored.

Introduction: Blood-based biomarkers of pathophysiological brain amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation, particularly for preclinical target and large-scale interventions, are warranted to effectively enrich Alzheimer's disease clinical trials and management. Methods: We investigated whether plasma concentrations of the Aβ1–40/Aβ1–42 ratio, assessed using the single-molecule array (Simoa) immunoassay, may predict brain Aβ positron emission tomography status in a large-scale longitudinal monocentric cohort (N = 276) of older individuals with subjective memory complaints.