Blood-Based Biomarkers for Early Detection
For decades, diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, ALS, and MS has relied heavily on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. While effective, these methods present significant barriers to widespread early detection. Lumbar punctures for CSF collection are invasive, uncomfortable, and not always feasible in routine clinical practice. PET imaging, on the other hand, is expensive, not widely available, and often reserved for later disease stages.
Recent advancements in blood-based biomarker detection are reshaping the landscape of neurological diagnostics, offering the promise of earlier, more accessible, and less invasive disease detection. But while this progress is encouraging, the challenge remains: many key biomarkers, such as phosphorylated tau (p-tau), neurofilament light (NfL), and amyloid-beta (Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios), exist at levels too low for standard immunoassay detection.
This is where Exazym® comes in. By amplifying immunoassay signals up to 100 times, Exazym® enables the detection of these elusive biomarkers in blood samples—bringing us closer than ever to a simple blood test for neurodegenerative diseases.
Why Blood-Based Biomarkers Are the Future of Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
The push for blood-based diagnostic tests is fueled by an urgent need for early intervention. Current treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases show the most promise before significant brain damage occurs. However, most patients are diagnosed only after cognitive decline is noticeable, which is often too late for meaningful intervention.
Breakthroughs in blood biomarkers suggest a paradigm shift is underway:
- p-Tau217 and p-Tau181: These tau proteins, specific to Alzheimer’s pathology, are proving to be reliable indicators of disease progression—even before clinical symptoms appear.
- Neurofilament Light (NfL): A general marker of neurodegeneration, elevated NfL levels in blood correlate with neuronal damage seen in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and MS.
- Amyloid-Beta Ratios (Aβ42/Aβ40): The amyloid plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s can be indirectly detected through shifts in blood amyloid levels, offering a potential alternative to costly PET scans.
These discoveries, however, come with one major hurdle—their concentrations in blood are often below the detection limits of standard ELISA assays.
How Exazym® Enables Ultra-Sensitive Detection of Neurological Biomarkers
The challenge of low-abundance biomarker detection has slowed the widespread adoption of blood-based testing. Traditional ELISA-based methods struggle to achieve the sensitivity required to reliably measure these biomarkers at sub-picogram levels.
Exazym® overcomes this limitation through Binding Oligo Ladder Detection (BOLD), a proprietary signal amplification technology that:
- Amplifies immunoassay signals up to 100x, making it possible to detect trace biomarkers with higher accuracy.
- Maintains specificity, ensuring that background noise does not interfere with results.
- Works within existing ELISA workflows, allowing researchers and clinicians to adopt the technology without requiring specialized equipment.
This means that p-Tau, NfL, and amyloid-beta markers—which were once detectable only through high-cost digital immunoassay platforms like Simoa® or mass spectrometry—can now be accurately measured using standard lab workflows.
Bringing Blood-Based Alzheimer’s Testing to the Clinic
While research into blood biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases is advancing rapidly, sensitivity limitations have delayed their transition into routine clinical practice. The ability to reliably quantify these biomarkers in blood—without requiring ultra-specialized equipment—will be key to making these tests accessible on a larger scale.
With Exazym®’s amplification technology, we are getting closer to a future where:
- Primary care physicians can screen for Alzheimer’s risk through a simple blood test, just like cholesterol screening for heart disease.
- Neurologists can monitor disease progression and treatment response non-invasively, improving clinical decision-making.
- Blood-based diagnostics become cost-effective and scalable, reducing reliance on lumbar punctures and PET imaging.
Early detection is the key to better outcomes—and high-sensitivity immunoassays will be the bridge that gets us there.
The Future of Neurological Diagnostics Starts Now
As spring brings a season of renewal this April, the focus remains on advancing early detection and accessible diagnostics. With Exazym®, researchers and clinicians have a powerful new tool to push the boundaries of biomarker discovery and make blood-based neurological diagnostics a reality.
To learn more about how Exazym® can enhance your research, visit www.cavidi.se. For inquiries, email us at support@cavidi.se or call us at +46 18 55 20 40.
Download Our White Paper
You can also explore our research where we used BOLD to detect pTau(181) in human plasma with unprecedented sensitivity. Download our white paper: Application of BOLD Technology in Assessing Biomarkers Within Neuroscience