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American researchers have developed a blood test capable of detecting Alzheimer’s disease even before the first symptoms appear. A real hope to be able to initiate treatment earlier?
There are one million people affected by Alzheimer’s disease in France, and more than 225,000 new cases each year. Today, most patients are diagnosed after developing the well-known symptoms of the disease, such as memory loss. At this point, the best treatment options simply slow the progression of symptoms.
Alzheimer’s: the value of early detection
The interest of early detection of the disease is thus capital and in this field, one of the tracks is based on the search for beta-amyloid proteins whose accumulation in the form of aggregates is related to the disease of Alzheimers.
A team of researchers from Washington has developed a laboratory test called SOBA (for soluble oligomer binding assay), capable of measuring the levels of beta-amyloid oligomers in blood samples. Their discovery was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A blood sample anticipate cognitive decline?
The team tested SOBA on blood samples from 310 research people who had previously made their blood samples and some of their medical records available for Alzheimer’s disease research.
At the time the blood samples were taken, the subjects were recorded as showing no signs of cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease or any other form of dementia.
SOBA has detected oligomers in the blood of people with mild cognitive impairment and moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. In 53 cases, the research subject’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s was confirmed by autopsy after death. The blood samples of 52 of them, which had been taken years before their deaths, already contained toxic oligomers. the SOBA test has also detected oligomers in people who later developed mild cognitive impairment.
A breakthrough in the world of research
The team that will present this study soon along the lines of PNAS is satisfied with this progress. “What clinicians and researchers have wanted is a reliable diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease – and not just one that confirms a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, but one that can also detect signs of the disease before cognitive impairment does not occur. It is important for the health of individuals and for all research related to the formation and debates of beta-amyloid peptide oligomers”said lead author Valerie Daggett.
In fact, the study itself bears hope and is no longer just in the domain of Azeimher. “We find that many human diseases are associated with the accumulation of toxic oligomers that form these alpha sheet structures,” Daggett said. Not just Alzheimer’s disease, but also Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes and more. SOBA picks up on this unique alpha sheet structure, so we hope this method can help diagnose and study many other “protein misfolding” diseases.