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New blood test can predict onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms within 3-4 years
Instead of testing for beta amyloid, which requires a PET scan, researchers can measure a protein called p-tau217 in plasma, according to the study published in the same journal. nature
The test “has the potential to accurately predict the onset of symptoms and can be used for personalized clinical care.”
A new blood test can help predict when symptoms will appear. alzheimer’s disease may begin. Help affected people start preventive treatment sooner.
Researchers have discovered that it can be measured with a single blood test. p-tau217 — proteins in plasma — can help determine when patients start showing symptoms. alzheimer’s disease.
It is believed that a protein called beta-amyloid is the cause. progressive dementia At the same time, tau, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, increases in the body.
The researchers found that by measuring tau, they could create a “clock model” to “track disease progression with specific biomarkers, thereby providing detailed and intuitive time-based staging,” according to a study published in the same journal. nature.
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“Amyloid and tau levels are similar to tree rings. Knowing the number of rings on a tree can tell you how old it is,” said the lead author. Dr. Kellen K. PetersenInstructor of Neurology at WashU Medicine says: press release From university. “We found that amyloid and tau also accumulated in a consistent pattern, and that the age at which amyloid and tau became positive strongly predicted when Alzheimer’s disease symptoms would develop. We found that this was also true for plasma p-tau 217, which reflects both amyloid and tau levels.”
Their “clock model” was able to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms within three to four years. Although beta amyloid requires a PET scan, “our study shows the potential of using blood tests, which are significantly cheaper and more accessible than brain imaging scans or spinal fluid tests, to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms,” the lead author said. Suzanne E. Schindler, MDan associate professor in the Department of Neurology at Wash. University School of Medicine, said in a release.
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Researchers found that when this protein is detected early, symptoms take longer to appear. A 60-year-old person with elevated plasma p-tau 217 did not develop symptoms until he was 80 years old. However, the 80-year-old with elevated p-tau 217 developed symptoms 11 years later.
Researchers say they hope this will lead to advances in treatment. As Petersen said in the release, “With further refinement, these methodologies may be able to predict the onset of symptoms accurately enough to be used in individualized clinical care.”
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