Tear-Based Neurodegenerative Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease Screening in Latin America
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Background
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevalence is rising globally, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) facing diagnostic challenges. We investigated the potential for tear-based biomarkers as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for AD.
Methods
Tear samples were collected from 11 patients with MCI or dementia (neurocognitive disorder, NCD) and 5 age-matched cognitively healthy controls at a public hospital in Lima, Peru. Proteins were analyzed for neurodegenerative biomarkers (amyloid-beta 40/42, total tau, phosphorylated tau181 [pTau181], α-synuclein, and neurofilament light).
Results
A custom digital ELISA assay on the NanoMosaic platform revealed significantly elevated levels of total tau (p=0.0023) and pTau181 (p=0.0016) in NCD samples compared to controls. Additionally, the pTau181 to total tau ratio was markedly higher in the NCD group (p = 0.007).
Conclusion
These findings suggest that tear-based biomarkers, particularly total tau and pTau181, hold promise as a feasible, non-invasive approach for AD screening and diagnosis in resource-limited settings.
