The cerebrospinal fluid of people with mild memory problems may help identify those who later develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research.
In the study, researchers collected samples of the cerebrospinal fluid of 58 people with mild memory disorder (cognitive) and analyzed the samples for concentrations of several proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. After an average follow-up to three years, 21 people had developed Alzheimer’s, 27 still had a mild cognitive impairment, and eight had recovered normal cognitive health.
Two of the participants developed a type of dementia was Alzheimer’s, and were not included in the final results.
The cerebrospinal fluid of people who developed Alzheimer’s disease had significantly higher levels of a protein called beta amyloid precursor protein (sAPPβ) the cerebrospinal fluid of those who did not develop the disorder, with an average of 1.200 compared to 932 nanograms per milliliter.
Predicting the risk of Alzheimer participant had an accuracy of 80 percent when combined three factors, sAPPβ the age of the person, and a known marker of cell damage in the brain called protein tau. A protein called beta amyloid 1-42 (Aβ1-42), previously considered what is known as a “biomarker” of Alzheimer’s was not a predictor, according to German researchers.The study was published online June 22 issue of Neurology. Up to fifteen percent of people with mild memory problems develop Alzheimer’s disease each year, the researchers said. “These results suggest that a biomarker sAPPβ [indicator] could be useful and superior to Aβ1-42 marker set in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease,” he said in a news release from the journal the author of the study, Dr. Robert Perneczky, Technical University of Munich.
“One possible explanation is that the Aβ1-42 measured events subsequent to the initial stages leading to the production of amyloid plaque that accumulates in the brains of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” he said. Perneczky sAPPβ said the measure is a critical first step in the development of Alzheimer’s, and could “provide more precise information on the central pathological event.”
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