Blood-based biomarkers in Alzheimer′s disease: a review

Alzheimer′s disease (AD), as a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, often progresses insidiously. AD is known to have long disease course and heavy disease burden and there is no cure for it currently. The proper intervention at an early stage has been proven effective to delay AD progression. Therefore, early diagnosis is critically important for the prevention and treatment of AD. Neither cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) detection nor imaging detection could be used as a screening tool for AD among high-risk population because of requirements for highly invasive operation or costly and specialized equipment. Minimal invasion, rapid collection, and affordable price make blood an ideal sample for AD screening. In this review, recent research advances in detections of four types of AD related blood-based biomarkers (amyloid-β protein, Tau protein, β-secretase 1, and neurofilament light chain) were summarized for providing a reference to relevant studies and clinical practice.