Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease pathology in the community.
| Title: | Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease pathology in the community. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Aarsland D; Centre for Age-Related Medicine (SESAM), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway. daarsland@gmail.com.; Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. daarsland@gmail.com.; Sunde AL; Centre for Age-Related Medicine (SESAM), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway. anitalenora@gmail.com.; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. anitalenora@gmail.com.; Tovar-Rios DA; Centre for Age-Related Medicine (SESAM), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.; L-BioStat, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.; Grupo de Investigación en Estadística Aplicada- INFERIR, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.; Prevención y Control de la Enfermedad Crónica- PRECEC, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.; Leuzy A; Centre for Age-Related Medicine (SESAM), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.; Fladby T; Department of Neurology, Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog, Norway.; Zetterberg H; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.; UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, UK.; Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.; Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Blennow K; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Sorbonne University, Paris, France.; Neurodegenerative Disorder Research Center, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Department of Neurology, Institute on Aging and Brain Disorders, University of Science and Technology of China and First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, P. R. China.; Tan K; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; De Santis G; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Yakoub Y; Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Centre for Studies on the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.; Arslan B; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Huber H; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; German Center of Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.; Pola I; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Grötschel L; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Di Molfetta G; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Skjellegrind HK; HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway.; Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway.; Selbaek G; Norwegian National Centre for Aging and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway.; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Nydalen, Oslo, Norway.; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.; Ashton NJ; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.; Banner Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, AZ, USA.; Banner Alzheimer's Institute and University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, USA. |
| Source: | Nature [Nature] 2026 Feb; Vol. 650 (8100), pp. 182-186. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Dec 17. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Clinical Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0410462 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1476-4687 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00280836 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nature Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Basingstoke : Nature Publishing Group; Original Publication: London, Macmillan Journals ltd. |
| MeSH Terms: | Alzheimer Disease*/epidemiology ; Alzheimer Disease*/pathology ; Alzheimer Disease*/blood ; Alzheimer Disease*/diagnosis; tau Proteins/blood ; tau Proteins/chemistry ; Norway/epidemiology ; Cognitive Dysfunction/epidemiology ; Cognitive Dysfunction/blood ; Cognitive Dysfunction/pathology ; Biomarkers/blood ; Humans ; Aged ; Prevalence ; Aged, 80 and over ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Phosphorylation ; Cohort Studies ; Age Factors |
| Abstract: | The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease neuropathological changes (ADNCs), the leading cause of cognitive impairment, remains uncertain. Recent blood-based biomarkers enable scalable assessment of ADNCs1. Here we measured phosphorylated tau at threonine 217 in 11,486 plasma samples from a Norwegian population-based cohort of individuals over 57 years of age as a surrogate marker for ADNCs. The estimated prevalence of ADNCs increased with age, from less than 8% in people 58-69.9 years of age to 65.2% in those over 90 years of age. Among participants aged 70 years or older, 10% had preclinical Alzheimer's disease, 10.4% had prodromal Alzheimer's disease and 9.8% had Alzheimer's disease dementia. Furthermore, among those 70 years of age or older, ADNCs were present in 60% of people with dementia, in 32.6% of those with mild cognitive impairment and in 23.5% of the cognitively unimpaired group. Our findings suggest a higher prevalence of Alzheimer's disease dementia in older individuals and a lower prevalence of preclinical Alzheimer's disease in younger groups than previously estimated2.; (© 2025. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: D.A. has received research support and/or honoraria from AstraZeneca, H. Lundbeck, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Evonik, Roche Diagnostics, GE Health, Bioarctic and Sanofi; and served as a paid consultant for H. Lundbeck, Eisai, Heptares, Mentis Cura, Eli Lilly, Cognetivity, Enterin, Acadia, EIP Pharma, Biogen and Takeda. A.L. has acted as a consultant for Enigma Biomedical Group. H.Z. has served on scientific advisory boards and/or as a consultant for AbbVie, Acumen, Alector, Alzinova, ALZpath, Amylyx, Annexon, Apellis, Artery Therapeutics, AZTherapies, Cognito Therapeutics, CogRx, Denali, Eisai, Enigma, LabCorp, Merry Life, Nervgen, Novo Nordisk, Optoceutics, Passage Bio, Pinteon Therapeutics, Prothena, Quanterix, Red Abbey Labs, reMYND, Roche, Samumed, Siemens Healthineers, Triplet Therapeutics and Wave; has given lectures sponsored by Alzecure, BioArctic, Biogen, Cellectricon, Fujirebio, Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Roche and WebMD; and is a co-founder of Brain Biomarker Solutions in Gothenburg AB (BBS), which is a part of the GU Ventures Incubator Program (outside the submitted work). K.B. has served as a consultant and on advisory boards for AbbVie, AC Immune, ALZPath, AriBio, Beckman-Coulter, BioArctic, Biogen, Eisai, Lilly, Moleac, Neurimmune, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Prothena, Quanterix, Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi and Siemens Healthineers; has served on data monitoring committees for Julius Clinical and Novartis; has given lectures, produced educational materials and participated in educational programs for AC Immune, Biogen, Celdara Medical, Eisai and Roche Diagnostics; and is a co-founder of Brain Biomarker Solutions in Gothenburg AB (BBS), which is a part of the GU Ventures Incubator Program, outside the work presented in this paper. G.S. has participated in advisory board meetings for Roche, Eli-Lilly and Eisai regarding disease-modifying drugs for AD; and has received honoraria for delivering lectures at symposia sponsored by Eisai and Eli-Lilly. N.J.A. has given lectures, produced educational materials and participated in educational programs for Eli-Lily, BioArtic and Quanterix. A.L.S., D.A.T.R., T.F., K.T., G.D.S., L.G., Y.Y., B.A., H.H., I.P., G.D.M. and H.K.S. declare no competing interests. |
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| Grant Information: | Norwegian Helse Vest trust |
| Molecular Sequence: | ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06719453 |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (tau Proteins); 0 (Biomarkers) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20251217 Date Completed: 20260204 Latest Revision: 20260404 |
| Update Code: | 20260404 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC12872468 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-025-09841-y |
| PMID: | 41407852 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article; Clinical Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't