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Brain Science Advances 2021, 7(1): 17-25 https://doi.org/10.26599/BSA.2021.9050004
Review Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 05 March 2021

Can blood amyloid levels be used as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease?

Show Author's Information Yuan-Han Yang1,2,3( ),  Rocksy FV Situmeang4,  Paulus Anam Ong5
Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China
Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China
Neuroscience Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China
Siloam Hospitals Lippo Village, Pelita Harapan University, Banten, Indonesia
Department of Neurology, Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords:
Alzheimer’s disease, apolipoprotein E, plasma, amyloid precursor protein, Aβ1–40, Aβ1–42, cerebrospinal fluid
Cite this article:
Yang Y-H, Situmeang RF, Ong PA. Can blood amyloid levels be used as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease?. Brain Science Advances, 2021, 7(1): 17-25. https://doi.org/10.26599/BSA.2021.9050004
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Abstract Full text About this article

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) increasingly affects society due to aging populations. Even at pre-clinical stages, earlier and accurate diagnoses are essential for optimal AD management and improved clinical outcomes. Biomarkers such as beta-amyloid (Aβ) or tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been used as reliable markers to distinguish AD from non-AD, and predicting clinical outcomes, to attain these goals. However, given CSF access methods’ invasiveness, these biomarkers are not used extensively in clinical settings. Blood Aβ has been proposed as an alternative biomarker since it is less invasive than CSF; however, sampling heterogeneity has limited its clinical applicability. In this review, we investigated blood Aβ as a biomarker in AD and explored how Aβ can be facilitated as a viable biomarker for successful AD management.


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About this article

Can blood amyloid levels be used as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease?

Show Author's information Yuan-Han Yang1,2,3( ), Rocksy FV Situmeang4, Paulus Anam Ong5
Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China
Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China
Neuroscience Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China
Siloam Hospitals Lippo Village, Pelita Harapan University, Banten, Indonesia
Department of Neurology, Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) increasingly affects society due to aging populations. Even at pre-clinical stages, earlier and accurate diagnoses are essential for optimal AD management and improved clinical outcomes. Biomarkers such as beta-amyloid (Aβ) or tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been used as reliable markers to distinguish AD from non-AD, and predicting clinical outcomes, to attain these goals. However, given CSF access methods’ invasiveness, these biomarkers are not used extensively in clinical settings. Blood Aβ has been proposed as an alternative biomarker since it is less invasive than CSF; however, sampling heterogeneity has limited its clinical applicability. In this review, we investigated blood Aβ as a biomarker in AD and explored how Aβ can be facilitated as a viable biomarker for successful AD management.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, apolipoprotein E, plasma, amyloid precursor protein, Aβ1–40, Aβ1–42, cerebrospinal fluid

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Received: 03 December 2020
Revised: 01 February 2021
Accepted: 22 February 2021
Published: 05 March 2021
Issue date: March 2021

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© The authors 2021

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