These new treatments have been shown to slow the progression of the disease when administered in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, i.e. when the person affected has mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. Similarly, diagnosis in the early stages of the disease is also vitally important in order to start comprehensive treatment as early as possible and allow the person and their family to plan for the future.
In this context, we were delighted that last March we were able to celebrate the first year of the introduction into clinical practice at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona of the p-tau217 biomarker for the study of people with cognitive impairment. P-tau217 is the most widely used blood biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease in the world, and allows us to confirm this disease biologically. This is a significant development, given that the Clínic Barcelona was the first centre in Spain to introduce it, and it has once again enabled us to offer our patients the latest diagnostic advances as quickly as possible. This would not have been possible without the relentless research work carried out by a multidisciplinary team, such as the Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit, and the collaboration of many people evaluated at our centre, who are always willing to contribute to the advancement of science. Recently, in January 2025, a first paper was published in the Journal of Neurology, showing data from 468 participants, which demonstrate that this blood biomarker (p-tau217), used in a specialized unit, was capable of predicting the results obtained in the cerebrospinal fluid in 2 out of 3 patients studied, and that therefore, a simple blood test can avoid a large number of lumbar punctures, a technique necessary for obtaining cerebrospinal fluid.
The Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders group continues to work on many research projects to further improve care for people with cognitive impairment. If you would like to collaborate with us, we have now launched the CONNECTA project. It’s an enormous challenge, but together we can move forward.
Article:
Accuracy and clinical applicability of plasma tau 181 and 217 for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in a memory clinic cohort. Sarto J, et al. J Neurol. 2025 Jan 23;272(2):160. doi: 10.1007/s00415-025-12897-5. PMID: 39849125
