We are delighted to announce the release of our first harmonised biomarker dataset, the ATN dataset, now accessible via the EPND Hub. This marks a major milestone for the project, advancing collaborative research across Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and offering researchers new opportunities to study shared pathological processes.

The ATN dataset includes data from 350 participants across ten European research cohorts, with contributions from clinical centres in Denmark, Germany, Czechia, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Biosamples were analysed using Roche’s NeuroToolKit by EPND partners at the University of Gothenburg, and data harmonisation and analysis were completed by Maastricht University.

The dataset contains centralised measurements of CSF and plasma biomarkers, including Aß42, Aß40, p-tau181, neurofilament light chain (NfL), and α-synuclein, alongside rich clinical data on cognition, motor function, mood, imaging, and genetics. Findings presented at the 2024 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference suggest overlapping biomarker signatures across AD, PD, and DLB, with implications for disease diagnostics and clinical trial designs.

The ATN dataset links biomarkers with demographics, clinical and genetic data, including rich assessments of cognition, motor function, and mood - supporting research across AD, PD and DLB, diseases that affect millions of people in Europe.

Pieter Jelle Visser, Professor in Molecular Epidemiology of Alzheimer's Disease

The ATN dataset is available through the EPND Hub, which includes metadata on 100+ research studies and resources across 12 disease areas and 25 countries. The Hub features secure dataset and biosample discovery, metadata-rich catalogues, and analytics via integration with the AD Data Initiative’s AD Workbench.

This release underscores EPND’s mission to accelerate progress in neurodegeneration research through secure and ethical data and biosample sharing. Researchers worldwide are encouraged to register on the EPND Hub and explore this important new resource!

Read the press release: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1084390