Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Alzheimer’s Disease with Blood Biomarkers

Abstract

Background: One of the world's leading causes of death is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Diagnostic of the disease and determining the risk before it reaches a severe stage are essential to reduce the rate of a patient’s development into the dementia phase, as well as locating practical, economical, and effective diagnostic tools, including blood tests, are easier and still reasonably priced, compared to neuroimaging or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examinations. Method: The studies were systematically searched for and determined by pooled sensitivity and specificity which studies were about diagnosing AD using the single molecular array (SIMOA) method by detecting phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in the blood. In addition, Egger's test results for heterogeneity and publication bias were evaluated. Result: After systematically review the studies from 2016 to 2023, seven studies have been included for the meta-analysis. The results show low level of heterogeneity (I² = 28.99%) and no publication bias Egger's test in sensitivity and specificity (p-value = 0.244 and 0.084, respectively) in patients. Conclusion: The ability to identify p-tau in blood with SIMOA has been useful in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Currently, this procedure is utilized in conjunction with other diagnostic approaches for diagnosis.