Fernando Gonzalez – Pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical value of novel blood-based tau biomarkers
Avhandling för medicine doktorsexamen vid Sahlgrenska akademin, Institutionen för neurovetenskap och fysiologi, Sektionen för psykiatri och neurokemi
Opponent och betygsnämnd
Opponent: docent Kristoffer Haugarvoll, Mitochondrial Medicine & Neurogenetics, Klinisk institutt 1, Universitetet i Bergen, Bergen, Norge
Betygsnämnd: Aishe Sarshad (ordf.), Henrik Ryberg och
Pia Davidsson (AstraZeneca)
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Disputationen hålls på engelska
Det går bra att delta på distans, disputationen kommer att streamas via Zoom Webinar: en länk publiceras senast dagen innan disputationen
Ordförande för disputationsakten: Steinn Steingrimsson
Blood-based biomarker across neurological conditions
In recent years, blood biomarkers have been used to better understand patients with different neurological conditions. Blood-based biomarkers offer a more accessible alternative, especially useful when symptoms are unclear or overlapping. This thesis explores two promising blood-based biomarkers: brain-derived tau (BD-tau) and phosphorylated tau217 (p-tau217), focusing on their ability to detect and monitor Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other brain disorders.
In Alzheimer’s, where early diagnosis is crucial for treatment and planning, these tau biomarkers can detect signs of disease even before memory loss and other symptoms appear. Plasma BD-tau reflects the type of nerve cell damage typical in AD and correlates with other markers of brain degeneration. In stroke, BD-tau levels in the blood rise in proportion to the size of the brain injury, offering a potential tool for tracking recovery and outcomes. Plasma p-tau217, on the other hand, shows high accuracy in spotting the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s, outperforming older tau tests. Its levels in blood also predict how quickly someone’s memory and thinking abilities may decline, making it valuable not only for diagnosis but also for prognosis.
Our results also show that these markers aren't limited to Alzheimer’s. For example, in Niemann-Pick disease type C, a rare genetic disorder, elevated p-tau217 points to similar mechanisms of tau buildup seen in Alzheimer’s. In Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), a fast-progressing and fatal condition, both BD-tau and p-tau217 help distinguish it from other causes of rapid dementia and provide clues about disease progression.
In summary, this work highlights how blood biomarkers could transform the way we detect, monitor, and understand a range of brain diseases. Not only do these biomarkers improve early detection of Alzheimer’s, but they also offer new windows into the biology of other neurological disorders, bringing us closer to better, more personalized care for patients.
