Summary: The discovery of a unique ratio of metabolites in blood samples taken from early-stage Alzheimer’s patients could be a critical new biomarker for early detection of the neurodegenerative disease.
Source: Brain Chemistry Labs
Although symptoms of advanced Alzheimer’s disease are well known, diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages requires careful cognitive testing by neurologists.
Discovery of a unique ratio of metabolites from blood samples of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients promises to speed diagnosis, allowing earlier treatments to be initiated.
“We were delighted to discover that the ratio of two molecules, 2-aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate and taurine, allows us to reliably discriminate samples of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients from controls,” said Dr. Sandra Banack, lead author of the report in PLOS ONE and Senior Scientist at the Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson Hole.
The blood samples were drawn from patients enrolled in an FDA-approved Phase II trial at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and then shipped to the Brain Chemistry Labs for analysis.
Current attempts to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease from blood samples depend on the presence of amyloid fragments, the molecules that cause brain tangles and plaques.
“At the Brain Chemistry Labs, we consider amyloid plaques to be a consequence rather than the cause of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Paul Alan Cox, Executive Director of the Brain Chemistry Labs explains.
“What is exciting about this new discovery is that it does not depend on amyloid and the assay can be performed on analytical equipment that is already present in most large hospitals.”
About this Alzheimer’s disease research news
Author: Marilyn Asay
Source: Brain Chemistry Labs
Contact: Marilyn Asay – Brain Chemistry Labs
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access.
“A Possible Blood Plasma Biomarker for Early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease” by Sandra Banack et al. PLOS ONE
Abstract
A Possible Blood Plasma Biomarker for Early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease
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We sought to identify a usable biomarker from blood samples to characterize early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, in order to facilitate rapid diagnosis, early therapeutic intervention, and monitoring of clinical trials.
We compared metabolites from blood plasma in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease patients with blood plasma from healthy controls using two different analytical platforms: Amino Acid Analyzer and Tandem Mass-Spectrometer.
Early-stage Alzheimer’s patient blood samples were obtained during an FDA-approved Phase IIa clinical trial (Clinicaltrial.gov NCT03062449). Participants included 25 early-stage Alzheimer’s patients and 25 healthy controls in the United States.
We measured concentrations of 2-aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate and taurine in blood plasma samples.
We found that plasma concentrations of a phospholipid metabolite, 2-aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate, normalized by taurine concentrations, distinguish blood samples of patients with early-stage AD.
This possible new Alzheimer’s biomarker may supplement clinical diagnosis for early detection of the disease.