- November 9, 2025
- Thomas Karikari, et al., University of Pittsburgh
Topic/Product:
CNS Disease Panel 120, Neurology
Disease Area:
Alzheimer's Disease
Sample Type:
Plasma, Serum
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The NULISASeq™ CNS Disease Panel has high potential for AD diagnosis, but the comparability of serum vs. plasma remains unclear.
METHODS We compared its performance on 43 matched serum-plasma pairs from a memory clinic cohort.
RESULTS The panel reproducibly quantified 124 targets (mean CV=4.9%) with high detectability (mean=95.7%). Serum-plasma correlations were strong (ρ>0.7) for 79 targets. 48 targets had significant NPQ differences, with 32 higher in plasma. Plasma had more erythrocyte-enriched proteins (HBA1, PGK1, SOD1, PRDX6), while serum had more platelet-derived proteins (CD40LG, BDNF, VEGFA, Aβ40). For classical AD biomarkers, serum-plasma correlations were stronger for p-tau, GFAP, and NfL (ρ>0.9) than for Aβ targets (ρ=0.594– 0.785). Tau levels were higher in plasma; GFAP and NfL were similar, and Aβ peptides were mixed. Twelve targets, along with p-tau217/Aβ42, were linked to AD diagnosis, with plasma generally showing stronger effects.
DISCUSSION Our results support serum use but suggest plasma performs better for AD using this panel.
Authors & Affiliations
Marissa F. Farinas¹²³, Yijun Chen⁴, Xuemei Zeng¹²³, Michel N. Nafash¹²³, Ann D. Cohen¹³, Oscar I. Lopez¹³⁵, and Thomas K. Karikari¹²³
¹ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
² Biofluid Biomarker Laboratory, Western Psychiatric Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
³ Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
⁴ Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
⁵ Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA