Four key blood biomarkers — phosphorylated tau 217, glial fibrillary acidic protein, neurofilament light chain, and amyloid-β ratio — demonstrated equivalent performance in predicting cognitive decline across Black and White populations in a 15-year longitudinal study of over 1,000 participants. The biomarkers showed consistent associations with dementia risk regardless of race, with similar baseline concentrations observed between groups.
This represents a crucial validation for precision medicine in dementia screening, addressing long-standing concerns about biomarker effectiveness across diverse populations. Previous Alzheimer's research has been criticized for underrepresenting Black participants despite their 1.5-2x higher dementia risk compared to White adults. The findings suggest that emerging blood-based screening tools — which are far more accessible than PET scans or lumbar punctures — could be deployed equitably across racial groups without requiring race-specific cutoff values. However, the study's community-based Chicago cohort may not capture the full spectrum of socioeconomic and geographic diversity within each racial group. If confirmed in broader populations, these results could accelerate early intervention strategies and reduce health disparities in dementia care through more accessible, universally applicable screening protocols.
