Researchers at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine and Durin Technologies, Inc., announce they have developed a blood test that can detect the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, which could lead to treating sufferers sooner, according to Fox News.
The test was recently demonstrated in a proof of concept study where an overall accuracy, sensitivity and specificity rate of 100 percent was achieved. The study included over 200 subjects.
In the study, blood samples from 236 individuals was analyzed, including 50 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects who has low levels of amyloid beta 42 peptide in their cerebrospinal fluid, an indication of ongoing Alzheimer’s pathology in the subjects brain.
The research team identified 50 biomarkers that were capable of detecting early-stage Alzheimer’s pathology, using human protein microarrays, containing human proteins that attract blood-borne autoantibodies.
Cassandra DeMarshall, lead study author and Ph.D. candidate at the Rowan University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, said in a release, “About 60 percent of all MCI patients have MCI caused by an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. The remaining 40 percent of cases are caused by other factors, including vascular issues, drug side-effects and depression. To provide proper care, physicians need to know which cases of MCI are due to early Alzheimer’s and which are not.”
According to the release, the biomarkers in the study were 100 percent accurate in distinguishing those patients with Alzheimer’s over a number of tests.
DeMarshall added, Our results show that it is possible to use a small number of blood-borne autoantibodies to accurately diagnose early-stage Alzheimer’s. These findings could eventually lead to the development of a simple, inexpensive and relatively noninvasive way to diagnose this devastating disease in its earliest stages.”
The release also said the tests was capable of recognizing the difference between Alzheimer’s at the MCI stage and other diseases, including Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and early stage breast cancer, as well a distinguishing early-stage Alzheimer’s from advances stages of the disease.
The findings from the research were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis Assessment & Disease Monitoring.