The clinical diagnosis for Alzheimer's comes a step closer
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Not knowing whether those memory lapses are just that, or the beginning of Alzheimer's disease, is one of the most distressing aspects of the disease, say researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. They say they have developed a blood test which may eventually tell you two to six years before the onset of Alzheimer's disease starts (before symptoms appear).
There are some proteins in blood plasma which cells utilize to pass messages to one another - this blood test identifies changes in these proteins. The scientists have found a link between a change in the cells' dialog and alterations in the brain that comes with Alzheimer's. The researchers explain the blood test indicated who had Alzheimer's disease with 90% agreement with clinical diagnoses. The test could predict onset of the disease 2 to 6 years before symptoms started to become evident.
Senior author, Tony Wyss-Coray, wrote "Just as a psychiatrist can conclude a lot of things by listening to the words of a patient, so by 'listening' to different proteins we are measuring whether something is going wrong in the cells. It's not that the cells are using new words when something goes wrong. It's just that some words are much stronger and some are much weaker; the chatter has a different tone." Reaching out to clinics in the United States, as well as Sweden, Poland and Italy, Britschgi obtained a total of 259 archived blood samples from individuals who had symptoms ranging from nothing abnormal to mild cognitive impairment to advanced Alzheimer's. Starting with 120 communication proteins, the team developed an analysis procedure to recognize if there was a pattern seen in Alzheimer's that could be compared with that of people without the condition. They discovered that as few as 18 proteins were sufficient to identify an Alzheimer's-specific pattern.
Among blood samples from 92 individuals who ranged from no symptoms to full dementia, the protein analysis matched the clinical diagnosis 90 percent of the time.
They then asked if they could predict the development of Alzheimer's among 47 people with mild cognitive impairment who had been followed from two to six years. The test -- done on blood samples taken several years earlier -- flagged 91 percent of the patients who developed Alzheimer's by the end of the follow-up time, as diagnosed by conventional methods.
"Already we have people approaching us at meetings asking if they can give us a vial of their grandfather's blood for testing," said Britschgi. Their findings show that it is possible to use factors in the blood to diagnose and even predict the disease, but, the authors emphasized, it must now be confirmed in other labs.
According to Satoris Inc, the company will develop a commercial Alzheimer's blood test, initially for use in research labs and, if confirmed as reliable, eventually as a clinical diagnostic test upon regulatory approval.
Britschgi and Wyss-Coray are interested in finding out why the cell communication pathways are altered in Alzheimer's. In their study, they determined that the 18 proteins that indicate Alzheimer's are also involved in the production of new blood cells, immune processes and apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death when a cell is no longer needed.
"Our hypothesis is that there is something wrong with the production of certain blood cells, which may be needed to clear that stuff that accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer's disease," said Wyss-Coray. "That makes a lot of sense, and it is very exciting to think of immune cells and molecules interacting with the brain."
Mucke, the director of Gladstone, added, "It will be interesting to find out in clinical trials if the identified disease markers are also useful for monitoring the response of individual patients to therapeutic interventions. That would be tremendous." http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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There are some proteins in blood plasma which cells utilize to pass messages to one another - this blood test identifies changes in these proteins. The scientists have found a link between a change in the cells' dialog and alterations in the brain that comes with Alzheimer's. The researchers explain the blood test indicated who had Alzheimer's disease with 90% agreement with clinical diagnoses. The test could predict onset of the disease 2 to 6 years before symptoms started to become evident.
Senior author, Tony Wyss-Coray, wrote "Just as a psychiatrist can conclude a lot of things by listening to the words of a patient, so by 'listening' to different proteins we are measuring whether something is going wrong in the cells. It's not that the cells are using new words when something goes wrong. It's just that some words are much stronger and some are much weaker; the chatter has a different tone." Reaching out to clinics in the United States, as well as Sweden, Poland and Italy, Britschgi obtained a total of 259 archived blood samples from individuals who had symptoms ranging from nothing abnormal to mild cognitive impairment to advanced Alzheimer's. Starting with 120 communication proteins, the team developed an analysis procedure to recognize if there was a pattern seen in Alzheimer's that could be compared with that of people without the condition. They discovered that as few as 18 proteins were sufficient to identify an Alzheimer's-specific pattern.
Among blood samples from 92 individuals who ranged from no symptoms to full dementia, the protein analysis matched the clinical diagnosis 90 percent of the time.
They then asked if they could predict the development of Alzheimer's among 47 people with mild cognitive impairment who had been followed from two to six years. The test -- done on blood samples taken several years earlier -- flagged 91 percent of the patients who developed Alzheimer's by the end of the follow-up time, as diagnosed by conventional methods.
"Already we have people approaching us at meetings asking if they can give us a vial of their grandfather's blood for testing," said Britschgi. Their findings show that it is possible to use factors in the blood to diagnose and even predict the disease, but, the authors emphasized, it must now be confirmed in other labs.
According to Satoris Inc, the company will develop a commercial Alzheimer's blood test, initially for use in research labs and, if confirmed as reliable, eventually as a clinical diagnostic test upon regulatory approval.
Britschgi and Wyss-Coray are interested in finding out why the cell communication pathways are altered in Alzheimer's. In their study, they determined that the 18 proteins that indicate Alzheimer's are also involved in the production of new blood cells, immune processes and apoptosis, the process of programmed cell death when a cell is no longer needed.
"Our hypothesis is that there is something wrong with the production of certain blood cells, which may be needed to clear that stuff that accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer's disease," said Wyss-Coray. "That makes a lot of sense, and it is very exciting to think of immune cells and molecules interacting with the brain."
Mucke, the director of Gladstone, added, "It will be interesting to find out in clinical trials if the identified disease markers are also useful for monitoring the response of individual patients to therapeutic interventions. That would be tremendous." http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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Chr Hansen is set to launch a new range of cranberry ingredients available for both the dietary supplement and functional food industries.
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