Alzheimer’s disease could one day be identified YEARS before symptoms appear

Alzheimer’s disease could one day be identified YEARS before symptoms appear

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Alzheimer’s disease may be identified soon YEARS before symptoms appear, after scientists have discovered blood biomarkers that have never been seen before.

  • Tiny biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease are present in the blood of sufferers
  • A new nanotechnology technique is able to detect them in the blood
  • The method may allow the development of future tests to allow the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear

By Joe Pinkstone for Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Chemicals have been discovered in the blood that could one day be used to test for Alzheimer’s disease, before a person develops symptoms.

Academics have developed a technique that is able to detect biomarkers of diseases that are created during neurodegeneration – the breakdown of neurons in the brain – that happens in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers.

Tiny spheres called liposomes were reused to attach themselves to the proteins in the blood of mice, in a process that the researchers compared to fishing.

Currently, Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed with brain scans after the onset of symptoms. But the researchers behind the new study say that their method proves that future tests can be developed to detect signs of the disease before symptoms appear.

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed with brain scans after the onset of symptoms. But the researchers behind the new study say that their method proves that future tests can be developed to detect signs of the disease before symptoms appear.

Treatment that prolongs life by 9% and prevents Alzheimer’s is done by scientists

A genetic treatment has been developed that causes fruit flies to live up to nine percent longer.

Two therapies were created, each targeting a protein and both were found to ward off signs of Alzheimer’s, as well as prolong healthy life expectancy.

Although the findings raise the possibility of replicating treatments in humans, such gene therapies are currently banned for ethical reasons, despite an ongoing debate about the potential benefits.

Researchers at UCL altered the genetics of fruit flies – a common animal in laboratory studies – with extra pieces of DNA inserted into their genome.

These changes were designed specifically to promote the expression of genes responsible for the production of two proteins.

Overexpression led to an increase in healthy life expectancy of 8.8 and 6.6 percent.

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed with brain scans after someone has behavioral symptoms, such as memory loss.

But the researchers behind the new study say that their method proves that future tests can be developed to detect signs of illness before symptoms appear.

The tests would also be relatively quick and uncomplicated, they say.

Alzheimer’s biomarkers have long been thought to be present in a person’s blood, but they are in such small quantities that they are undetectable with current methods.

Blood biomarkers of other diseases, such as diabetes and cancer, have been found.

University of Manchester scientists have turned to nanotechnology – specializing in ultra-small scale – to find Alzheimer’s biomarkers.

Dr Marilena Hadjidemetriou, the study’s lead researcher, said: ‘The information hidden in the blood is likely to echo the complex cascade of events that occur in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

“We wanted to create a blood mining platform in nanotechnology to discover this information and identify the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease in the pre-disease state – before the formation of amyloid plaque in the brain begins.”

Amyloid plaques are clusters of protein fragments that are toxic to nerve cells and are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers used nanotechnology to increase the sensitivity of mass spectrometry, a technique used to analyze patterns of proteins in the blood.

Chemicals have been discovered in the blood that could one day be used to test Alzheimer's disease before a person develops symptoms

Chemicals have been discovered in the blood that could one day be used to test Alzheimer’s disease before a person develops symptoms

A portable device that detects signs of diabetes and cancer in a person’s BREATH is being manufactured

A breathalyzer that detects the first warning signs of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer is being created by scientists after the development of a new sensor.

The researchers successfully created a material called ‘nanoparticle scaffolding’ that is made up of small pieces of metal and semiconductors – all thousands of times smaller than human hair – that are integrated into a small, highly sensitive sensor.

They will be installed on portable devices, similar to those that the police use to test drunk drivers, to detect signs of illness on a person’s breath, scientists say.

This proof-of-concept study is now being taken to the next stage and a prototype is being built.

They used small nano-sized spheres, called liposomes, as a tool to fish for proteins specific to blood disease.

When injected into mice with Alzheimer’s, the nanoparticles spontaneously picked up hundreds of proteins associated with neurodegeneration on their surfaces.

Then they were recovered intact from the bloodstream and the molecular signatures on their surface were analyzed.

Kostas Kostarelos, a nanomedicine professor, said: ‘This study was like a fishing expedition – we didn’t know what was under the surface of the ocean.

“The nano-tool we developed allowed us to see the blood proteome more deeply, identifying proteins of interest that are directly associated with neurodegeneration processes in the brain, among thousands of other blood circulating molecules.

“We hope that these early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease can one day be turned into a blood test and we are actively seeking to validate these signatures in human blood.”

Professor Nigel Hooper, associate vice president of research and director of research on dementia at the University of Manchester, said: ‘The technology developed opens up new possibilities for the development of new blood tests with multiple analytes to predict the onset and development of a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases. ‘

The study, published in ACS Nano, was funded by the Medical Research Council.

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