Alzheimer's disease and inflammatory biomarkers positively correlate in plasma in the UK-ADRC cohort

INTRODUCTION: Protein-based plasma assays provide hope for improving accessibility and specificity of molecular diagnostics to diagnose dementia. METHODS: Plasma was obtained from participants (N= 837) in our community-based University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Research Center cohort. We evaluated six Alzheimer's disease (AD)- and neurodegeneration-related (A ss 40, A ss 42, A ss 42/40, ptau181, total tau, and NfLight) and five inflammatory biomarkers (TNF alpha, IL6, IL8, IL10, and GFAP) using the SIMOA-based protein assay platform. Statistics were performed to assess correlations. RESULTS: Our large cohort reflects previous plasma biomarker findings. Relationships between biomarkers to understand AD-inflammatory biomarker correlations showed significant associations between AD and inflammatory biomarkers suggesting peripheral inflammatory interactions with increasing AD pathology. Biomarker associations parsed out by clinical diagnosis (normal, MCI, and dementia) reveal changes in strength of the correlations across the cognitive continuum. DISCUSSION: Unique AD-inflammatory biomarker correlations in a communitybased cohort reveal a new avenue for utilizing plasma-based biomarkers in the assessment of AD and related dementias.