Alzheimer Disease Biomarker Changes Start in Late 50s

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By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, Senior Medical Editor, B. Pharm. Last updated on May 11, 2026.

via HealthDay

MONDAY, May 11, 2026 -- Changes in Alzheimer disease biomarkers begin in the late 50s and continue through the early 70s, according to a study published online April 7 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Mingzhao Hu, Ph.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues modeled plasma amyloid beta (Aβ)42/40, phosphorylated tau (p-tau)181, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL), amyloid/tau positron emission tomography (PET), hippocampal volume adjusted for total intracranial volume (HVa), and global cognition in 2,082 Mayo Clinic Study of Aging participants to identify age-related breakpoints with slope-changing trajectories. A subsample of 462 participants provided mass-spectrometry plasma markers (p-tau181, p-tau217, their ratios, and Aβ42/40).

The researchers found that Aβ42/40, HVa, and cognition declined with age, and p-tau181, NfL, GFAP, and amyloid/tau PET increased in the full cohort. Single breakpoints were observed at 68.1 years for GFAP, 70.7 years for NfL, 67.2 years for p-tau181, 62.3 years for amyloid PET, 68.1 years for HVa, and 59.8 years for cognition; no breakpoint was seen for tau PET. P-tau217 and p-tau181 broke at 72.6 years in the mass-spectrometry subset; no breakpoints were seen for their ratios or Aβ42/40.

"This population-based study provides an integrated view of age-related patterns across multiple Alzheimer's biomarkers measured in blood and imaging, plus cognition," Hu said in a statement. "By estimating the ages when changes in health markers become more noticeable, the results show that many of these shifts tend to happen from late 50s through early 70s."

Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, which enabled use of the 18F-flortaucipir tracer by providing a precursor.

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-05-12 02:42

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