A team at the University of Pittsburgh has validated a new blood test panel that can simultaneously measure over 100 Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers.
The panel, the Nulisaseq CNS disease panel 120, can measure approximately 120 analytes linked to AD, the authors wrote in an article published in Molecular Neurodegeneration.
Using blood samples from a cohort of 113 cognitively normal older adults living in an economically underserved region in southwestern Pennsylvania, the scientists tested the platform, manufactured by Alamar Biosciences, against a series of assays of classical Alzheimer's biomarkers. The samples were sent to Alamar Biosciences for analysis.
"Compared to the highly multiplex Olink and SOMAscan platforms, which are designed to measure a large number of proteins for discovery applications, the NULISAseq CNS panel offers more targeted measurements of established Alzheimer's Disease biomarkers and emerging biomarkers with known associations with neurodegenerative diseases," the authors wrote, noting that the panel had "exceptional correlation" with the Simoa ALZPath assay.
Testing a wide range of biomarkers would provide a more detailed picture of pathological changes associated with AD, the scientists noted, leading to earlier detection.
"Alzheimer's disease should not be looked at through one single lens," senior author Thomas Karikari, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, said in a university article.
"Capturing aspects of Alzheimer's pathology in a panel of clinically validated biomarkers would increase the likelihood of stopping the disease before any cognitive symptoms emerge," Karikari said.
