Until now, several research has set out to develop blood tests to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in people with cognitive symptoms.
However, none could precisely determine the clinical stage of this pathology. But a new work published in the journal Nature could well change the situation.
How does this new test work?
American and Swedish researchers have discovered that a specific protein called MTBR-Tau243, present in the blood, precisely reflects the toxic accumulation of tau aggregates in the brain (characteristic of Alzheimer) and connects with the gravity of the disease.
By analyzing the blood levels of MTBR-Tau243 in people with cognitive decline, scientists were able to distinguish people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease from those at more advanced stages. They were also able to identify patients whose symptoms were caused by other neurological pathologies.
In fact, with 92 %precision, scientists observed that the levels of MTBR-TA243 remain normal in asymptomatic people; that they are significantly higher in people at a light cognitive impairment stage; And that they can be up to 200 times higher among those who have already accessed the dementia stadium.
To personalized medicine
« This blood test clearly identifies the tangles of Tau Characteristics of Alzheimer, which are our best biomarker to measure the symptoms and dementia linked to this diseaseexplain the authors. We are about to enter the era of personalized medicine for Alzheimer’s disease.
The number and variety of drugs available against the disease could soon increase, because several experimental treatments targeting the TAU protein or other aspects of the disease are being developed. At the early stages with low tangles of tau protein, certain therapies could thus be more effective than in advanced stages. »
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