Alzheimer’s Disease — Breakthrough Test at UCLA

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 9:00 am  
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UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center

As stated in the previous post, today there are no reliable tests to determine conclusively if a person has Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, there are several breakthrough tests on the horizon that have us hopeful that soon we may have an accurate test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. In the last post, I covered what’s happening at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) at West Virginia University and Inverness Medical Innovations. In this post I will report on the breakthrough test for Alzheimer’s disease at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

At UCLA, researchers have developed a blood test that would measure the amount of amyloid beta that is being absorbed by immune cells in the blood. If the immune system isn’t adequately clearing amyloid beta, it may indicate Alzheimer’s risk. According to Gen News, the UCLA scientists took blood samples and isolated monocytes including amyloid beta. The monocytes were incubated overnight with amyloid beta, which was labeled with a fluorescent marker. Using flow cytometry, the investigators then measured the amount of amyloid beta ingested by the immune cells.

The 18 Alzheimer’s disease patients in the study showed the least uptake of amyloid beta. The healthy control group, which consisted of 14 university professors, had the highest uptake.

The method was able to distinguish the Alzheimer’s disease patients with adequate sensitivity and specificity and the results were found to be positive in 94% of patients and negative for the entire control group. Additionally, the data was positive in 60% of participants who suffered from mild cognitive impairment.

Milan Fiala, M.D., is the lead author of the UCLA study, which appeared in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.

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Alzheimer’s Research Part 1

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 am  
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Although there is still no conclusive test for the determination of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there is hope and occasionally, new information. Last month, Science Daily reported that:

Elderly people exhibiting memory disturbances that do not affect their normal, daily life suffer from a condition called “mild cognitive impairment” (MCI). Some MCI patients go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease within a few years, whereas other cases remain stable, exhibiting only benign senile forgetfulness. It is crucial to develop simple, blood-based tests enabling early identification of these patients that will progress in order to begin therapy as soon as possible, potentially delaying the onset of dementia.

A group of investigators, led by Professor Massimo Tabaton of the University of Genoa, Italy, have data that sheds light on this issue. The results of their research are published in the October issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The investigators report that the concentration in blood of amyloid beta “42,” the toxic molecule that is believed to be the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease, is, on average, higher in MCI cases that went on to develop Alzheimer’s disease approximately three years later. The values of amyloid beta in blood vary considerably among the patient groups examined (MCI that develop Alzheimer’s disease; MCI stable; normal subjects). “This variability is likely very important,” Dr. Tabaton noted and went on to add, “but means that this needs further work before we can use this test for a definitive diagnosis.” For example, the scientists are going to set up a test that picks up a variant of amyloid beta potentially more specific of the disease.

There’s progress, but we still have a long ways to go to find an effective test. A conclusive blood test would certainly be ideal. But even if we were to have a conclusive test, doctors still have very few effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. And still, as it has been for a long time, only an autopsy will reveal definitively whether or not a person truly had Alzheimer’s.

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