Alzbiomarker AD vs CTRL
This interactive resource organizes decades of data on biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. Biomarker measurements from the cerebrospinal fluid and blood are curated from the primary literature and meta-analyzed. The database was developed in collaboration with Henrik Zetterberg and colleagues at the University of Gothenburg and the meta-analysis results of the Version 1.0 dataset have been published (Olsson et al., 2016). We welcome your feedback and invite you to contact us at alzbiomarker@alzforum.org.
See below for links to each meta-analysis along with key statistics, such as p value and effect size -- a ratio of the mean biomarker concentration of one cohort over another (e.g. AD/control). View this page on a desktop, laptop, or tablet for a colorful, interactive graph of the results, plotted by effect size and z score.
Meta-Analyses
The graph, and the table below it, show key results from all meta-analyses. As the overall result, the effect size—a ratio of the mean biomarker concentration of one condition over another (e.g. AD/control)—is plotted against the z score, a statistic indicating how far away the observed ratio is from the null hypothesis of no difference. For example, a z score of 1.96 means that the observed ratio is 1.96 times larger than the standard error; it is equivalent to p=0.05. A z score of 3.89 is equivalent to p=0.0001. Customize the plot by selecting group comparisons and/or biomarkers. The size of each circle reflects the total number of subjects in the meta-analysis. Mouse over the circle to learn more. In the table, click the arrowheads to sort each data column.
Biomarkers:
| Meta-Analysis | Effect Size | z score | p value | Number of Comparisons |
Number of Subjects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD vs CTRL: albumin ratio (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.109 | z score | p value: z = 3.07 | p = 0.00211 | Number of Comparisons: 26 | Number of Subjects: AD N=2149, CTRL N=1262 |
| AD vs CTRL: Aβ38 (CSF) | Effect Size: 0.921 | z score | p value: z = 2.12 | p = 0.03363 | Number of Comparisons: 17 | Number of Subjects: AD N=887, CTRL N=827 |
| AD vs CTRL: Aβ40 (CSF) | Effect Size: 0.913 | z score | p value: z = 4.07 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 51 | Number of Subjects: AD N=2438, CTRL N=2011 |
| AD vs CTRL: Aβ40 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.044 | z score | p value: z = 1.44 | p = 0.15097 | Number of Comparisons: 48 | Number of Subjects: AD N=3806, CTRL N=5483 |
| AD vs CTRL: Aβ42 (CSF) | Effect Size: 0.552 | z score | p value: z = 35.05 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 210 | Number of Subjects: AD N=14236, CTRL N=10708 |
| AD vs CTRL: Aβ42 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.049 | z score | p value: z = 2.17 | p = 0.02998 | Number of Comparisons: 53 | Number of Subjects: AD N=4197, CTRL N=6020 |
| AD vs CTRL: GFAP (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.502 | z score | p value: z = 1.92 | p = 0.05530 | Number of Comparisons: 5 | Number of Subjects: AD N=140, CTRL N=128 |
| AD vs CTRL: GFAP (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.928 | z score | p value: z = 12.24 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 7 | Number of Subjects: AD N=738, CTRL N=1123 |
| AD vs CTRL: hFABP (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.437 | z score | p value: z = 6.89 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 7 | Number of Subjects: AD N=361, CTRL N=374 |
| AD vs CTRL: hFABP (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.054 | z score | p value: z = 0.86 | p = 0.38915 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: AD N=134, CTRL N=139 |
| AD vs CTRL: MCP-1 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.091 | z score | p value: z = 3.12 | p = 0.00181 | Number of Comparisons: 11 | Number of Subjects: AD N=460, CTRL N=723 |
| AD vs CTRL: MCP-1 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.040 | z score | p value: z = 0.82 | p = 0.41128 | Number of Comparisons: 8 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1112, CTRL N=723 |
| AD vs CTRL: neurogranin (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.609 | z score | p value: z = 7.9 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 22 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1595, CTRL N=1389 |
| AD vs CTRL: neurogranin (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 0.714 | z score | p value: z = 1.14 | p = 0.25272 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: AD N=45, CTRL N=49 |
| AD vs CTRL: NFL (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.983 | z score | p value: z = 14.54 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 30 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1693, CTRL N=1950 |
| AD vs CTRL: NFL (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.854 | z score | p value: z = 11.33 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 15 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1053, CTRL N=1526 |
| AD vs CTRL: NSE (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.464 | z score | p value: z = 2.87 | p = 0.00416 | Number of Comparisons: 9 | Number of Subjects: AD N=293, CTRL N=211 |
| AD vs CTRL: NSE (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 0.999 | z score | p value: z = 0.01 | p = 0.99192 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: AD N=102, CTRL N=97 |
| AD vs CTRL: sAPPα (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.035 | z score | p value: z = 0.78 | p = 0.43779 | Number of Comparisons: 14 | Number of Subjects: AD N=806, CTRL N=559 |
| AD vs CTRL: sAPPα (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.501 | z score | p value: z = 1.58 | p = 0.11352 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: AD N=132, CTRL N=151 |
| AD vs CTRL: sAPPβ (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.013 | z score | p value: z = 0.48 | p = 0.62907 | Number of Comparisons: 17 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1031, CTRL N=740 |
| AD vs CTRL: sAPPβ (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 0.700 | z score | p value: z = 1.04 | p = 0.30006 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: AD N=176, CTRL N=178 |
| AD vs CTRL: sTREM2 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.314 | z score | p value: z = 6.37 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 12 | Number of Subjects: AD N=714, CTRL N=686 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-p181 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.867 | z score | p value: z = 29.08 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 153 | Number of Subjects: AD N=10861, CTRL N=8808 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-p181 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.799 | z score | p value: z = 7.94 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 19 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1175, CTRL N=1744 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-p217 (CSF) | Effect Size: 10.988 | z score | p value: z = 11.17 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: AD N=164, CTRL N=249 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-p217 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 3.876 | z score | p value: z = 1.74 | p = 0.08162 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: AD N=252, CTRL N=393 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-p231 (CSF) | Effect Size: 5.893 | z score | p value: z = 4.67 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 5 | Number of Subjects: AD N=259, CTRL N=111 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-total (CSF) | Effect Size: 2.477 | z score | p value: z = 40.4 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 238 | Number of Subjects: AD N=15876, CTRL N=11596 |
| AD vs CTRL: tau-total (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.398 | z score | p value: z = 5.84 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 37 | Number of Subjects: AD N=2745, CTRL N=4168 |
| AD vs CTRL: VLP-1 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.546 | z score | p value: z = 5.23 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 7 | Number of Subjects: AD N=353, CTRL N=385 |
| AD vs CTRL: YKL-40 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.362 | z score | p value: z = 7.66 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 34 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1781, CTRL N=2072 |
| AD vs CTRL: YKL-40 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 2.205 | z score | p value: z = 2.38 | p = 0.01721 | Number of Comparisons: 5 | Number of Subjects: AD N=371, CTRL N=685 |
| AD vs CTRL: α-synuclein (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.183 | z score | p value: z = 3.55 | p = 0.00038 | Number of Comparisons: 24 | Number of Subjects: AD N=1237, CTRL N=1140 |
| AD vs CTRL: α-synuclein (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 0.909 | z score | p value: z = 0.98 | p = 0.32567 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: AD N=109, CTRL N=78 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: albumin ratio (CSF/Blood) | Effect Size: 1.056 | z score | p value: z = 0.95 | p = 0.34338 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=96, MCI-Stable N=142 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: Aβ38 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.127 | z score | p value: z = 2.58 | p = 0.01000 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=87, MCI-Stable N=144 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: Aβ40 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.000 | z score | p value: z = 0.02 | p = 0.98641 | Number of Comparisons: 8 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=337, MCI-Stable N=461 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: Aβ40 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.018 | z score | p value: z = 0.5 | p = 0.61737 | Number of Comparisons: 5 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=371, MCI-Stable N=557 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: Aβ42 (CSF) | Effect Size: 0.672 | z score | p value: z = 15.58 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 28 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=979, MCI-Stable N=1476 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: Aβ42 (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 0.952 | z score | p value: z = 0.27 | p = 0.78533 | Number of Comparisons: 5 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=371, MCI-Stable N=557 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: neurogranin (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.542 | z score | p value: z = 2.97 | p = 0.00299 | Number of Comparisons: 4 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=190, MCI-Stable N=170 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: sAPPα (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.091 | z score | p value: z = 1.3 | p = 0.19510 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=118, MCI-Stable N=169 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: sAPPβ (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.055 | z score | p value: z = 0.55 | p = 0.58568 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=118, MCI-Stable N=169 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: tau-p181 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.566 | z score | p value: z = 10.97 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 22 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=800, MCI-Stable N=1242 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: tau-total (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.754 | z score | p value: z = 18.74 | p <0.0001 | Number of Comparisons: 28 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=951, MCI-Stable N=1462 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: tau-total (Plasma and Serum) | Effect Size: 1.364 | z score | p value: z = 2.42 | p = 0.01547 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=90, MCI-Stable N=243 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: VLP-1 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.397 | z score | p value: z = 2.32 | p = 0.02008 | Number of Comparisons: 2 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=83, MCI-Stable N=41 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: YKL-40 (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.125 | z score | p value: z = 1.75 | p = 0.07985 | Number of Comparisons: 5 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=226, MCI-Stable N=266 |
| MCI-AD vs MCI-Stable: α-synuclein (CSF) | Effect Size: 1.340 | z score | p value: z = 1.9 | p = 0.05789 | Number of Comparisons: 3 | Number of Subjects: MCI-AD N=84, MCI-Stable N=75 |
Further Reading
News
- Will We Soon Stage Alzheimer’s With Plasma Markers?
- Blood Tests: Not Just for the Impaired?
- Looking Good: Immunoassays for Blood Markers
- Tau PET as Progression Marker: It’s the Spread, Not the Brightness