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

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Alzheimer’s disease could soon be identified YEARS before symptoms appear after scientists discover previously unseen blood biomarkers

  • There are small biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in the blood of people who suffer from it
  • A new nanotechnology technique is able to detect them in the blood
  • The method could allow future tests to be developed that could allow the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear.

By Joe Pinkstone for Mailonline

Posted: | Updated:

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

Scholars have developed a technique capable of detecting biomarkers of diseases that are created during neurodegeneration (the degradation of neurons in the brain), which passes to the brain of those suffering from Alzheimer’s.

In a process that the researchers compared to fishing, small spheres called liposomes were reused to adhere to the blood proteins of mice.

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed with brain scans after symptoms appear. But researchers behind the new study say their method shows that future tests that detect signs of disease could develop before symptoms appear.

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed with brain scans after symptoms appear. But researchers behind the new study say their method shows that future tests that detect signs of disease could develop before symptoms appear.

Treatments that extend shelf life by 9% and prevent Alzheimer’s are made by scientists

A genetic treatment has been developed that makes the fruit flies live up to nine percent more.

Two therapies each aimed at a protein were created and both were found to prevent the signs of Alzheimer’s and prolong healthy life.

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

UCL researchers altered the genetics of fruit flies, a common animal in laboratory studies, with additional pieces of DNA inserted into its genome.

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

Overexpression led to an improved healthy shelf life of 8.8% and 6.6%, respectively.

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

But the researchers behind the new study say their method shows that future tests that detect signs of disease could develop before symptoms appear.

Testing would also be relatively quick and hassle-free, they say.

Alzheimer’s biomarkers have long been believed to be present in a person’s blood, but they are in such small amounts that they cannot be detected with current methods.

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

Scientists at the University of Manchester 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 Alzheimer’s patients.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scientists have created an breathalyzer that detects early warning signs of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer after the development of a new sensor.

The researchers successfully created a material called “nanoparticle scaffolding” that consists of small pieces of metal and semiconductors, all thousands of times smaller than human hair, that are integrated into a small, highly sensitive sensor.

These will be introduced into handheld devices, similar to what police use to test drunk drivers, to detect signs of illness in a person’s breath, scientists say.

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

They used small nano-sized spheres, called liposomes, as a tool to catch disease-specific proteins from the blood.

When Alzheimer’s is injected into mice, the nanoparticles spontaneously collected hundreds of neurodegeneration-associated proteins on their surfaces.

They were then recovered intact from the bloodstream and the molecular signatures on their surface were analyzed.

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

“The nanoin we developed allowed us to take a closer look at the blood proteome, identifying proteins of interest that are directly associated with neurodegeneration processes in the brain, among thousands of other molecules circulating in the blood.

“We hope that these early warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease can one day become a blood test and we are actively seeking the validation of 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 multi-analytical blood tests to predict the onset and the development of a wide range of neurodegenerative disorders. ‘

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

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