In recent years, the subcortical small-vessel disease has become an increasingly common cognitive diagnosis.
Scientists from the University of Gothenburg found that it is possible to identify patients with the disease by combining two biomarkers that are measured in spinal fluid and blood, increasing the potential for both treatment and the development of medication.
The research is published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring and was conducted by Petronella Kettunen et al.
The subcortical small-vessel disease is one of the most common cognitive diseases, along with Alzheimer’s disease and mixed dementia, which is a form in which Alzheimer’s disease occurs together with vascular damage in the brain.
Up to now, researchers have had no markers for subcortical small-vessel disease, which means that the disease could not be easily identified by testing samples of spinal fluid or blood.
This study now opened up an opportunity to identify the disease, enabling help for this patient group in the form of lifestyle changes and blood pressure-reducing medication.
In the study, the team examined several biomarkers, measured in samples of both spinal fluid and blood, to see whether they could be used to distinguish between these three common cognitive diseases.
A total of 170 patients are included in the study, including control subjects.
The study confirms that a biomarker for vascular injury, based on the ratio of the protein albumin in spinal fluid and blood, was much higher in patients with the subcortical small-vessel disease.
The study also found a new biomarker, a fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in spinal fluid, which was lower in patients with the subcortical small-vessel disease.
Facts: Alzheimer’s & subcortical small-vessel disease
Alzheimer’s disease progresses gradually. Early in its development, the disease usually causes memory loss because the brain regions responsible for this function are broken down.
In contrast, the subcortical small-vascular disease affects vessels deep within the brain, below the cerebral cortex, so that the cognitive symptoms are different.
Patients often suffer sudden personality changes and slowed mental acuity before memory becomes noticeably diminished.
The small-vessel disease can be associated with high blood pressure, and patients often exhibit small cerebral infarcts and other vascular injuries in white brain matter.
Patients with subcortical small-vessel disease constitute a large proportion of cases in the vascular cognitive disease group.
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