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News Center
Alzheimer's blood test detects brain damage years before symptoms
This was what an international group of scientists concluded after evaluating the simple test that used blood samples from people with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease that they had inherited.
The team included researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Tübingen, Germany.
The test looks for changes in levels of the neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein. The protein normally resides inside brain cells, or neurons, as part of their internal skeleton.
However, damaged and dying cells can leak NfL into surrounding cerebrospinal fluid. The protein then travels from the fluid into the bloodstream.
Others have already shown that raised levels of NfL in cerebrospinal fluid is a strong sign that some brain damage has occurred. Doctors can test for the protein using a lumbar puncture, or spinal tap, but many people are reluctant to undergo the procedure.
Now, in a Nature Medicine paper about the recent study, the authors report how they demonstrated that NfL levels in spinal fluid correlated with levels in blood and "are elevated at the presymptomatic stages of familial Alzheimer's disease."
"This could be," says co-first study author Stephanie A. Schultz, who is a graduate student at Washington University, "a good preclinical biomarker to identify those who will go on to develop clinical symptoms."
The researchers suggest that the quick and inexpensive method could one day also test for other conditions involving brain damage, such as traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and stroke。
Alzheimer's damages the brain
Alzheimer's disease is a major cause of dementia that destroys brain cells and tissue. As the brain damage spreads, it leads to symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, and diminishing capacity to function. Eventually, the person can no longer lead an independent life.
Estimates from the National Institute on Aging suggest that there could be at least 5.5 million people with Alzheimer's in the United States.
