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A study published in Nature Communications looks at an at home blood test for Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.
Dr Amanda Heslegrave, Principal Research Fellow, UKDRI Fluid Biomarker Laboratory and Biomarker Factory UCL, said:
“The prospect of at home blood sampling and the ability to post the test devices to a laboratory for analysis with no need for specialist equipment at site to process, is an area of great interest in the neurodegenerative disease field and this study combines this with digital cognitive testing allowing us to screen for those with a higher risk of, in this case, Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is good quality research in an area that will be important to all – now when we need to screen people onto trials for disease modifying treatments and in the hopefully not too distant future when we are able to offer disease treatments to those in the very earliest stages of disease.
“Testing ‘finger prick’ or capillary blood devices is still in the early but very encouraging stages and a number of research groups are looking at ways to make this method accessible to all – important to note here that nearly 20% of participants needed assistance.
“It is also important to remember that this methodology needs to be tested across populations and some co-morbidities may need to be taken into account, for example chronic kidney disease can affect pTau217 results.
“In relation to real world relevance of this we need to reiterate – this is not a diagnostic tool at present and could only be used for screening, and if we are to do that we need to scale up our abilities, most likely in clinical labs to be able to reliably measure capillary samples in a robust and accurate way.”
Prof Tara Spires-Jones, Professor of Neurodegeneration, University of Edinburgh, Division Lead in the UK Dementia Research Institute, and Past President of the British Neuroscience Association, said:
“In this study by Corbett and colleagues, scientists distributed self-administered fingerprick blood tests to measure biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease to 174 people. They find that markers measured by these simple at-home tests track with changes in cognitive function. People with very high levels of Alzheimer’s related biomarkers on this fingerprick blood test were more likely to have memory problems and declining ability to perform everyday tasks. This is well-conducted work and provides important new proof of principle that a fingerprick blood test taken at home can provide useful information about Alzheimer’s biomarkers. There are already very strong data from many groups indicating that blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, particularly the pTau217 marker, which was one of the two used in this study, are extremely reliable at detecting brain changes that are found in people with Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is important to note that these brain changes alone are not a guarantee of developing Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, so they are not yet recommended for widespread screening or routine clinical use.”
Dr Sheona Scales, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
“Finger‑prick blood tests could revolutionise dementia diagnosis. They offer a low‑cost, scalable way to identify people who may be at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and who should be offered further checks.
“The results suggest the test can detect changes in a blood biomarker linked to Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive difficulties, with a high level of sensitivity.
“As an early step in the diagnostic pathway, this kind of self-administered test could give reassurance to some people, while helping others move more quickly towards follow-up tests and support. As the test is easy to use and can be done remotely, it has the potential to improve access to assessment for those who face practical barriers to attending specialist clinics.
“However, this was a relatively small study, with limited numbers of people living with dementia, so larger and more diverse studies are now needed to confirm how well this tool performs in everyday healthcare settings.
“Tools that can detect Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages are increasingly important for people being able to access clinical trials. And in the future, they will be vital for diagnosing people early enough to benefit from potential new treatments. But any tools such as these, would need to be matched with increased in-depth follow-up capacity, including PET scans, lumbar punctures and specialist appointments, to ensure health systems can manage a rise in people being referred for follow‑up testing.”
‘Alzheimer’s Disease blood biomarkers measured through remote capillary sampling correlate with cognition in older adults’ by Anne Corbett et al. was published in Nature Communications at 10:00 UK time on Wednesday 6 May.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71448-2
Declared interests
Dr Amanda Heslegrave: I have acted as a paid consultant for Quanterix Corp.
Prof Tara Spires-Jones: I have no conflicts with this study but have received payments for consulting, grant reviews, scientific talks, or collaborative research over the past 10 years from AbbVie, Sanofi, Merck, Scottish Brain Sciences, Jay Therapeutics, Cognition Therapeutics, Ono, Novo Nordisk, Eisai, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Bristol-Meyers Squibb and direct a company Spires-Jones Neuroscience, Ltd to act as a consultant. I am also Charity trustee for the British Neuroscience Association and the Guarantors of Brain and serve as scientific advisor to several charities and non-profit institutions.
Dr Sheona Scales: “No conflicts of interest”