In 501 adults, higher plasma pTau217 lined up with faster functional decline in Lewy body disease

What the research found

A prospective cohort was published online on 11 November 2026. The print issue is listed as 8 December 2026. Stanford Alzheimer Research Center participants enrolled from 2015 to 2023. 501 people were included, mean age 71.1 (standard deviation 8.5), aged 71 on average, 51.5 percent female: 131 with Lewy body disease, 133 on the Alzheimer spectrum, and 237 healthy controls. In Lewy body disease, a higher baseline plasma pTau217 lined up with a faster rise on the Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes (beta 0.30, 95 percent CI 0.14 to 0.45, p<0.001) and a faster drop on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (beta -0.35, 95 percent CI -0.57 to -0.13, p=0.002). People above an amyloid-scan cut point had a 0.85 point per year faster sum-of-boxes rise and a hazard ratio of 3.41 (95 percent CI 1.60 to 7.28, p=0.002) for progressing to mild cognitive impairment or dementia. A faster rise in pTau217 also lined up with a faster sum-of-boxes rise (beta 0.24, 95 percent CI 0.10 to 0.38, p=0.003). This is a prognostic association in a clinic cohort, not a home test. DOI 10.1212/WNL.0000000000218686. Not medical advice.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at Neurology