Gothenburg University: newborns' blood shows high p-tau217, a marker of Alzheimer's disease, study finds
Researchers compared plasma from 42 newborns, 41 healthy older adults and 73 Alzheimer's patients. The authors warn against using p-tau217 alone for diagnosis.
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have found an unexpected biochemical link between the brains of newborns and of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease, according to cursorinfo.co.il. Infants' blood showed an abnormally high level of phosphorylated tau protein, p-tau217 and p-tau205, which is traditionally regarded as the main marker of neurodegeneration cursorinfo.co.il
cursorinfo.co.ilcursorinfo.co.ilOpen source ↗. The scientists compared plasma from 42 healthy newborns, 41 older volunteers in a control group and 73 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Tau protein in early development
According to the study, tau protein undergoes hyperphosphorylation at all available sites during early development. Its concentration in infants' brains often exceeds the values typical of severely ill elderly patients.
In infancy, phosphorylated tau is vital. It acts as a kind of anchor for axons, providing flexibility of neural connections, outgrowth of neurites and maturation of synapses.
The researchers explain the phenomenon with the concept of antagonistic pleiotropy, an evolutionary trade-off. A process that serves an important physiological function early in life begins to provoke pathology with age cursorinfo.co.il
cursorinfo.co.ilcursorinfo.co.ilOpen source ↗.
Differences from Alzheimer's disease and limits
Unlike in Alzheimer's disease, newborns show no elevated levels of the amyloid proteins that form harmful plaques. However, infants did show a high concentration of the protein GFAP, which in adults usually indicates neuroinflammation.
The authors stress that using a p-tau217 test as the sole diagnostic criterion carries a risk of erroneous diagnoses. It remains to be studied how tau levels change in healthy people across the whole lifespan.
