Blood molecules linked to Alzheimer’s-related proteins
An observational analysis of 2,958 adults linked molecules involved in fat transport and inflammation to blood proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Our read
Biomarkers- Studied:
- Cross-sectional study of 2,871 Rotterdam Study participants
- What changed:
- Blood amyloid-beta protein levels were higher with higher levels of triglyceride-rich particles in small VLDL
- The catch:
- Shared blood-marker binding and clearance can confound metabolite–protein associations
- Stake:
- An author holds shares in Metabolon.
- In the record:
- The 231st paper on albumin with results in people; 1,615 on record in all.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Blood samples from 2,958 Rotterdam Study participants underwent an observational analysis of small molecules involved in metabolism and proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Two overlapping testing groups included 2,871 and 1,491 people. Their average ages were 64.1 and 65.8 years; 52.6% and 59.7% were women, respectively. The analyses accounted for age, lifestyle, kidney function and other factors.
Fat-carrying particles rich in triglycerides, a type of fat, were associated with higher levels of both forms of amyloid-beta, a protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Cholesterol in high-density lipoproteins, another class of fat-carrying particles, was associated with lower amyloid-beta levels. GlycA, a measure of inflammation, was associated with higher levels of all four protein markers tested. Excluding people with dementia, stroke or impaired kidney function left the overall findings largely unchanged.
Why it matters
For Alzheimer’s disease, an age-related disorder, the authors suggested that some metabolites may serve as markers for early detection and risk assessment.
Caveats
The outcomes were blood protein markers, not future Alzheimer’s diagnoses or the accuracy of an early-detection test. The measurements leave open whether metabolic changes preceded or followed changes in those proteins.
From the paper
- Participants
A total of 2,871 participants with Nightingale metabolite profiling and 1,491 participants from the Metabolon metabolite profiling were included, with 1,404 participants having data from both, resulting in 2,958 unique participants.
- Limitation
First, the cross-sectional design prevents the ability to infer causality or temporal relationships between metabolite levels and Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.
Quoted word for word from the full text on PubMed Central.
- Inflammation
- Amino acid metabolism
- Epigenetic regulation of gene expression
- Alzheimer's disease
- Glycoprotein acetyls
- Humans
The paper
Erasmus MC
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, Jun 10, 2026, Open access
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