P-Tau in CSF Extracellular Vesicles in Alzheimer’s disease [A.I.]

STUDY:
Sattarov, R., Havers, M., Orbjörn, C. et al. Phosphorylated tau in cerebrospinal fluid-derived extracellular vesicles in Alzheimer’s disease: a pilot study. Sci Rep 14, 25419 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75406-0

Findings: This research paper investigates the potential of extracellular vesicles (EVs), tiny membrane-bound sacs secreted by cells, as biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study used a novel technique called acoustic trapping to isolate EVs from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients and cognitively unimpaired controls. The researchers found that the levels of phosphorylated tau (P-tau), a protein associated with AD pathology, differed significantly between the two groups in EVs isolated from CSF. Specifically, EVs from AD patients showed higher levels of P-tau181 and lower levels of P-tau217, leading to a higher P-tau181/P-tau217 ratio compared to controls. These findings suggest that EVs could play a role in the spread of AD pathology and may serve as potential biomarkers for early disease detection.