In a new study from the University of Kentucky ,researchers found promising results for a blood test that could be used to identify Alzheimer’s changes in the brain before the onset of any symptoms.
This could result in preventative treatments being used before any memory loss.
The detection of Alzheimer’s disease is limited to cognitive evaluations and neuroimaging like MRI and PET scans.
Due to recent technological developments, blood-based biomarkers of disease are now available and the team at Sanders-Brown believes they could be beneficial in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
A biomarker—short for biological marker—is a measurable indicator that captures what is happening in a cell or an organism at a given moment.
For this study, researchers identified samples from participants who had blood taken and banked within two years of their death.
They then tested blood samples from 90 participants for a variety of proteins with the goal of identifying biomarkers in the blood that could predict changes in the brain that might have contributed to dementia.
They believe their results support the continued study of blood-based biomarkers as a clinical screening tool for Alzheimer’s disease.
This study provides evidence that a blood test could be used to estimate the presence of Alzheimer’s disease changes and blood vessel damage in the brain.
The team identified proteins in the blood that indicate protein changes and changes in the brain known to cause dementia.
For example, higher pTau181 and lower beta-amyloid in the blood indicate amyloid plaques of Alzheimer’s in the brain.
Protein markers of inflammation in the blood were also associated with higher amyloid plaques in the brain.
They also found that inflammation proteins in blood were related to damage to blood vessels in the brain.
The team agrees that establishing biomarkers that allow doctors to diagnose and monitor patients is a crucial step towards identifying at-risk but not yet symptomatic patients, who could be more responsive to potential therapeutics.
Thanks to the community-based cohort at the UK, researchers have found through autopsies that there are mixed causes of dementia and that proteins in the blood are associated with brain changes.
They believe those discoveries provide additional evidence that blood biomarkers have a strong potential for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other causes of dementia.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies about why some older people less likely to have Alzheimer’s disease, and findings of daily habit that may help treat Alzheimer’s disease.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about common food that may reduce vascular disease in the brain, and results showing the alternative drug strategy against Alzheimer’s disease.
The study is published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association and was conducted by Donna Wilcock et al.
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