Blood Tests for Alzheimer ' s Disease Continue to Look Promising

In recent years, data has shown correlations between specific blood biomarkers and Alzheimer's disease pathology in the brain, such as the burden of misfolded, aggregated amyloid-β. This has led to the development of a variety of blood tests for Alzheimer's disease, intended to replace the presently onerous testing that requires either expensive imaging or invasive analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. Alzheimer's disease develops slowly over time, a long period of raised amyloid-β levels in the brain setting the stage for later dysfunction. Early testing for the risk of later Alzheimer's disease enabled attempts to slow or evade the condition, such as via lifestyle changes, use of antiviral therapies, or at worst undergoing immunotherapies to reduce the burden of amyloid-β in the brain. Accurate and expeditious detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology continues to be a major hurdle in advancing AD-modifying clinical research. A robust screening process that can identify patients with a high probability to randomize into AD therapeutic research trials would greatly enhance the ability to conduct and reduce the time needed to complete clinical trials. AD is characterized by the accumulation of two protein aggregates in the brain: extracellular deposits of amyloid beta (Aβ)-containing plaques and intraneuronal aggregates of misfolded tau protein. Numerous AD clinical trials, particularly those targeting either Aβ or amyloid plaques have used amyloid PET scans an...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs