New super-sensitive biomarker assay platforms for measuring Alzheimer's disease (AD) core pathological markers in plasma have recently been developed and tested. Research findings from these technologies offer promising evidence for identifying the earliest stages of AD and correlating them with brain pathological progression. Here, we review findings using immunomagnetic reduction, one of these ultrasensitive technologies. The principles, technology and assays developed, along with selected published findings will be discussed. The major findings from this technology were significant increases of amyloid beta (Aβ) 42 and total tau (t-tau) levels in subjects clinically diagnosed with early AD when compared with cognitively normal control (NC) subjects. The composite marker of the product of Aβ42 and t-tau discriminated subjects with early AD from NC subjects with high accuracy. The potential of this technology for the purpose of early or preclinical disease stage detection has yet to be explored in subjects who have also been assessed with brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid AD core biomarker measurements.
Keywords: AD plasma biomarkers; Immunomagnetic signal reduction-based SQUID technology; Ultra-sensitivity.