Plasma tau in acute brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease

Henrik Zetterberg, MD, PhDProfessor of Neurochemistry

Plasma tau as a biomarker of neuronal injury – the Simoa technique by Quanterix

AEB ~ 0.1 AEB ~ 0.6 AEB ~ 3.0

Rissin et al., Anal Chem. 2011Randall et al., Resuscitation, 2013AEB = Average number of Enzymes per Bead

HT7

Tau5

BT2 Detection: β-gal

Capture: magnetic beads

Plasma tau in cardiac arrest survivors

Randall et al., Resuscitation, 2013

P=.038P=.030

Plasma tau in boxers

• Study design: 30 amateur (olympic) boxers25 healthy age-matched controls

Plasma samples A) After bout (1-6 days)B) After a rest period (> 2 weeks)

• Study design: 30 amateur (olympic) boxers25 healthy age-matched controls

Plasma samples A) After bout (1-6 days)B) After a rest period (> 2 weeks)

Neselius et al., Brain Injury, 2013

Plasma tau in concussed hockey players of the Swedish NHL

Pre-season vs 1 hrUnpaired 2-tail t test

P=0.0011

Pre-season vs 12 hrUnpaired 2-tail t test

P=0.0717

Randall et al., unpublished

Plasma tau in concussed hockey players – sample series indicate biphasic release

Randall et al., unpublished

Plasma tau in Alzheimer’s disease

Zetterberg et al., Alz Res & Ther. 2013

Plasma tau in Alzheimer’s disease – no correlation to CSF…

Hesse et al., JAD 2000

CSF tau stays elevated for weeks following acute stroke

…but tau changes fast and is rapidly cleared in blood

Interpretation: different clearance rates of tau in CSF and blood may explain lack of correlation and lack of clear plasma tau changes in AD?

Clinical Neurochemistry LaboratorySahlgrenska University HospitalMölndal/Gothenburg, Sweden

Acknowledgements

Dave Wilson, Jeff Randall and colleagues at Quanterix Corporation