A new blood test detects Alzheimer’s before the first symptoms

A new blood test can detect “toxic” proteins years before symptoms of the disease appear Alzheimer’s according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Led by the washington university (United States), the work confirms that the test —still in trial— could help identify those individuals at risk or who are beginning to develop the disease, and open the door to the development of early treatments for Alzheimer’s.

Nowadays, patients are generally diagnosed only after presenting well-known signs of the disease, such as memory loss, describes a statement from the aforementioned university, which recalls that at that time the best treatment options are They only slow down the progression of symptoms.

But research has shown that the “seeds” of Alzheimer’s are “planted” years—even decades—before the cognitive disorders that make diagnosis possible today appear.

These seeds are amyloid beta proteins that misfold and clump together, forming small aggregates called oligomers. Over time, through a process scientists are still trying to understand, these “toxic” molecules are thought to develop into Alzheimer’s.

In the article published today, the team from the University of Washington describes a laboratory test that can measure the levels of oligomers amyloid beta in blood samples.

The scientists tested the test—known by the acronym SOBA— in blood samples from 310 subjects who had previously provided them, as well as some of their medical records for Alzheimer’s research.

At the time the samples were taken, the individuals were recorded as follows: No signs of cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, or another form of dementia.

SOBA detected oligomers in the blood of individuals with mild cognitive impairment and moderate to severe Alzheimer’s. In 53 cases, the diagnosis of the subjects was verified after death by autopsy and blood samples from 52 of them, which had been taken years before their death, contained toxic oligomers.

In addition, the test also detected oligomers in members of the control group who, according to the records, subsequently developed mild cognitive impairment.

“What doctors and researchers wanted was a reliable diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s, and not just one that would confirm the diagnosis, but one that could also detect signs of the disease before cognitive decline sets in,” said lead author Valerie Daggett. “What we show here is that SOBA can be the basis of such a test,” she added.

When misfolded amyloid beta proteins begin to clump together into oligomers, they form a structure known as an alpha sheet, and this tends to clump together with others.

The SOBA core is a synthetic alpha sheet that can bind to oligomers in cerebrospinal fluid or blood samples. The test then uses standard methods to confirm that these are made up of amyloid beta proteins.

The novel platform is designed to selectively bind toxic oligomers, “which is like finding a needle in a haystack,” according to Daggett.

The team is now working with scientists at AltPep, a University of Washington spin-off biotech company, to turn SOBA into a diagnostic test for the oligomers.

The study also showed that SOBA could be easily modified to detect toxic oligomers of other types of proteins associated with Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia.

Source-larepublica.pe