The tests were assessed for their ability to detect amyloid plaques. Credit: Chinnapong / Shutterstock.

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium has reported positive data from a study which showed that certain blood tests can accurately detect amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

This could serve as an alternative to more invasive diagnostic methods.

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The study, which compared the accuracy of commercial blood tests, suggests these could replace spinal taps and brain scans in many patients with cognitive impairment.

Developed and launched by the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, the research found that some blood tests are comparable in accuracy to established cerebrospinal fluid tests and positron emission tomography (PET) scans.

The project team evaluated blood tests from companies such as C2N Diagnostics, ALZpath, Janssen, Quanterix, and Roche Diagnostics.

These tests were assessed for their ability to detect amyloid plaques, tau tangles, brain volume decrease, and clinical dementia symptoms using samples from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).

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The study highlighted that blood tests measuring p-tau217 protein levels are particularly accurate in determining the presence and quantity of amyloid plaques.

These blood tests not only aid in clinical diagnosis but could also accelerate drug development by identifying suitable clinical trial participants.

FNIH president and CEO Julie Gerberding said: “The recent approvals of new anti-amyloid drugs—and the many treatments being studied in clinical trials—underscore the pressing need for more accessible, less invasive testing for early detection of Alzheimer’s.

“This collaborative research effort has resulted in a rich dataset that is freely available to the scientific community and moves us closer to our goal—accelerating the development of Alzheimer’s diagnostic tools and therapeutic options for the millions of people who suffer from this disease.”

The FNIH study also found that blood tests could detect low levels of brain amyloid in people without cognitive impairment.

Further analyses by the FNIH project team are underway to determine how well these blood tests can predict Alzheimer’s progression, including the likelihood of symptom development in pre-symptomatic individuals.