Determination of Alzheimer’s disease stage based on plasma cis phosphorylated tau biomarker

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia globally, with its incidence continuing to increase. Cis phosphorylated tau (Cis p-tau) is postulated as the earliest detectable pathogenic marker in AD and as a novel diagnostic and therapeutic factor. This study was conducted to evaluate stage of AD patients based on plasma level of Cis p-tau.
Target population (65-80 years) was chosen from people with AD who visited the neurology clinic of Firouzgar hospital. Selection of cases was according to their medical history and they were divided into control and AD groups at two early and late stages. Individual's cognitive performance was evaluated using Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) tests besides measurement of plasma level of Cis p-tau.
The results obtained for this study showed that besides significant difference in cognitive indices between control group and two groups of AD patients at early and late stages of the disease, plasma level of Cis p-tau is significantly higher in AD groups (especially in late stage AD group) as compared to the control and healthy group (p<0.05).
It seems that routine measurement of plasma Cis p-tau in AD patients may be of clinical diagnostic value to differentiate AD stages and to evaluate efficacy of used therapies. However, further large-scale research studies are still required to affirm this issue.