Plasma p-tau217 and APOE genotype

Authors

• Ann M. Stowe, University of KentuckyFollow
• Bilal Kahn, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Ali Ballesteros, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Monique Cortez, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Linda S. Hynan, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Victoria Cantrell, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Indu Raman, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Guangchun Chen, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Eric D. Vidoni, University of Kansas
• Ellen Binder, Washington University in St. Louis
• Jeffrey Burns, University of Kansas
• Jeffrey N. Keller, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Diana R. Kerwin, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
• Tristyn Hall, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
• Pavel Yanev, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
• Wanpen Vongapatanasin, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• David C. Zhu, Yeshiva University
• Norman Scheel, Department of Radiology
• C. Munro Cullum, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Rong Zhang, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
• Dwight C. German, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Abstract

Introduction: Plasma phosphorylated tau (p-tau)217 levels and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype are used for prodromal identification of individuals at high risk for dementia. We used baseline samples from cognitively normal subjects in the Risk Reduction for Alzheimer's Disease (rrAD) clinical trial (NCT02913664) to investigate the relationship between these two markers in older adults with additional vascular risk factors. Methods: We measured APOE genotype, plasma p-tau217, and standard neuroimaging metrics in 400 rrAD participants, aged 60 to 84 years, with sedentary lifestyle, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Results: Plasma p-tau217 was 57% higher in subjects with at least one APOE ε4 allele, increased with age, was higher in males, and negatively correlated with brain volume measures by magnetic resonance imaging. Discussion: Plasma p-tau217 demonstrated elevation in the APOE ε4 genotype in cognitively normal older adults. These data also suggest that brain volume shrinkage in males is related to elevated p-tau217. APOE genotyping will be important for clinical practice using p-tau217 quantification.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Notes/Citation Information

Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s). Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1002/dad2.70279

Archival?

Archival

Repository Citation

Stowe, Ann M.; Kahn, Bilal; Ballesteros, Ali; Cortez, Monique; Hynan, Linda S.; Cantrell, Victoria; Raman, Indu; Chen, Guangchun; Vidoni, Eric D.; Binder, Ellen; Burns, Jeffrey; Keller, Jeffrey N.; Kerwin, Diana R.; Hall, Tristyn; Yanev, Pavel; Vongapatanasin, Wanpen; Zhu, David C.; Scheel, Norman; Cullum, C. Munro; Zhang, Rong; and German, Dwight C., "Plasma p-tau217 and APOE genotype" (2026). Neurology Faculty Publications. 152.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/neurology_facpub/152