Pre‐analytical guidelines for blood and CSF Biomarkers 2025: Recommendations from the NACC ADRC Biofluid Biomarker Best Practices Workgroup
The Biofluid Biomarkers Best Practices Workgroup of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center-Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) Biomarker Core Steering Committee was convened to update pre-analytical handling guidelines for biofluid biomarkers, focusing on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. We reviewed current literature pertinent to best practices for biomarker studies and surveyed the ADRCs for biomarker analytes, platforms, and protocols used at each center. Across 37 ADRCs, 16 CSF and 28 plasma/serum analytes were reported to be studied at multiple centers. The pre-analytical handling steps and concerns related to each, as supported by empirical studies and expert opinion, were integrated to generate a revised guideline document. The guideline aimed to standardize steps in biospecimen and biomarker analyte collection, storage, and pre-analytical handling across the ADRCs. The 2025 ADRC guidelines represent the current working knowledge on biomarker best practices, providing guidance and harmonized protocols, and promoting robust analysis and reporting of composite data.
Authors
- Timothy Van Meter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5524-4251)
- Sarah Biber
- Hannah Stockwell
- Argentina Lario Lago
- Donna Wilcock
- R. Osorio
- Rachael Wilson
- Kathryn Gauthreaux
- Nicholas M. Kanaan
- Edward N. Wilson
- Robert A. Rissman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9245-8278)
- Kelley Faber
- Lynn M. Bekris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2747-7672)
- Fanny Elahi
- Nora Gray
- Matthew Perkins
- Thomas K. Karikari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1422-4358)
- Walter Kukull
- Thomas S. Wingo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4362-2593)
- Andy Liu
- Jill Morris
- Kristen Russ
Institutions
- Grand Rapids Community College (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (US)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Duke University (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Virginia BioTechnology Research Park (US)
- Administration for Children's Services (US)
- Knowledge Unlatched (Germany) (DE)
- University Memory and Aging Center (US)
- Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (US)
- Recycled Materials Resource Center (US)
- Indiana University School of Medicine
- Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Alzheimer s & Dementia
- Published
- 2026-05-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71252
- Primary Topic
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00