Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive loss of memory and cognitive functions. Early diagnosis is essential for good care of the patient, but even today, it remains difficult to achieve.
- Alzheimer’s disease affects approximately 1 million people in France.
- The earlier the diagnosis, the better the treatment.
- This discovery would make it possible to diagnose the disease earlier and at a lower cost.
Alzheimer’s disease affects around 1 million French women and men, according to the Vaincre Alzheimer Foundation. This represents nearly 8% of those over 65 and 17.5% of those over 75. This disease attacks the brain: it is characterized by progressive and irreversible destruction of its cells, with a reduction in brain volume and a decrease in connections between neurons.
“Drugs currently in development block disease lesions yet have no effect on symptomsExplain the AP-HP Research Foundation. The possible explanation would be that treating patients at an advanced stage of the disease would be too late. Hence the idea of treating them as soon as possible, perhaps even before the symptoms.“To achieve this, researchers around the world are trying to find new, easily identifiable markers in patients… And it seems that Japanese researchers have got their hands on a promising method: the detection of the disease directly in the blood. They published the results of their study in the journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.
Blood test: biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease detected
Researchers from the universities of Hokkaido and Toppan in Japan have developed a method to detect the accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) in the brain from biomarkers in blood samples. The β-amyloid which accumulates in the brain forms plaques at the level of the neurons and is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Biomarkers detected are Aβ-binding exosomes, which increase in the blood as β-amyloid accumulation occurs in the brain
Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s: first human trials
This discovery was made through trials in mice, under the direction of Associate Professor Kohei Yuyama from the School of Advanced Life Sciences at Hokkaido University. The first clinical trials on humans are in progress.
Today, the accumulation of Aβ in the brain can be measured by cerebrospinal fluid tests or by positron emission tomography (PET-scan). Nevertheless, the first examination is an extremely invasive test that can only be done once in the patient. The second is quite expensive, not all hospitals are equipped in France (but the examination is reimbursed by Social Security).
