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Not as an established consumer test based on the studies covered here. A 2023 study found that the tau fragment MTBR-tau243 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tracked Alzheimer’s-related tau tangles. A 2025 study then reported a related form in plasma, advancing the blood-test research—but neither paper establishes that a test is routinely available for diagnosis.
What is MTBR-tau243?
MTBR-tau243 is a tau protein fragment that includes residue 243 in tau’s microtubule-binding region. Researchers are studying it as a biomarker—a measurable biological signal—of tau tangles, or aggregated tau, which are a key feature of Alzheimer’s pathology. The fragment is being investigated as a signal associated with disease pathology; the studies do not show that it causes Alzheimer’s.
The initial finding was about measuring the fragment in CSF, the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, not in blood. The 2023 study used an immunoprecipitation and mass-spectrometry method to measure it.
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What the 2023 study found
Horie and colleagues studied two independent research cohorts: 448 participants in Sweden’s BioFINDER-2 cohort and 219 in the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center cohort. They compared CSF MTBR-tau243 with other phosphorylated-tau measures, amyloid-PET and tau-PET imaging, and cognitive measures.
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Among the CSF measures compared, MTBR-tau243 was most strongly associated with tau-PET and cognition, and least associated with amyloid-PET. That pattern suggests it may reflect tau-tangle burden more directly than the comparison markers. It does not mean the fragment is a definitive test for Alzheimer’s in an individual.
When the researchers combined MTBR-tau243 with another marker, p-tau205, the pair accounted for 58%–75% of the variation in tau-PET burden and 34%–48% of the variation in cognitive measures in the study analyses. These are cohort-specific statistical associations, not estimates of a blood test’s accuracy, sensitivity, or specificity.
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The authors discussed possible uses in research, including clinical trials and diagnosis, and proposed the fragment as a marker of insoluble tau aggregates within the A/T/(N) research framework. Those proposals describe potential research applications; they do not establish regulatory approval or routine clinical use. The study also notes that PET is a surrogate measure of pathology and that further validation is important.
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A later Nature Medicine study reported a plasma form called endogenously cleaved MTBR-tau243 (eMTBR-tau243), associated with tau-tangle pathology. The authors reported that it was more strongly associated with, and more specific to, tau tangles than other established plasma biomarkers they compared, including percentage p-tau217.
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This is evidence that researchers have moved the MTBR-tau243 line of work from CSF measurement toward blood-based measurement. It is not evidence that a consumer blood test is on the market, routinely offered in clinical care, or proven to diagnose Alzheimer’s for an individual. The reported CSF study statistics should not be applied to the plasma marker.
Can a blood test detect Alzheimer’s disease?
Blood biomarker research is progressing, but the studies discussed here do not establish a currently available MTBR-tau243 consumer test. Whether a test is commercially available or used clinically in a particular country is not established by these papers.
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Even a blood marker that tracks tau pathology would need validation for its intended clinical use. Association with imaging or cognition in research cohorts is not the same as showing how accurately a test can distinguish Alzheimer’s from other conditions, predict an individual’s course, or guide treatment. For personal diagnosis or care, readers should consult a qualified healthcare professional rather than interpret a research result as a diagnosis.
Why researchers are interested in a blood marker
Tau-PET imaging can show the distribution of tau pathology, but PET scans can be expensive and burdensome. Alzheimer’s researcher John Hardy told Chemistry World in 2023 that “a blood test for tangles would be really appealing.” That comment captures the potential value of a simpler way to study tau; it is not evidence that such a test was then available or is now in routine use.
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