- The witness of neurofibrillary tangles in the brain is One of the Key Hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease.
- The irregular clumps of protein are closely Associated with Disease Progression.
- Scientists Have Now Designed a Way to Detect The Vry Early Stages of Their Development.
- They Hope This Discovery Will Pave The Way For Earlier Diagnosis and, Therefore, Better Response to Treatment.
Scientists Know That A Build-Up Of Specific Proteins in the Brain is Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease.
However, by The Time Tohest Proteins have visible scholarship in Brain Scans, Disease Progression Is Well Underway, Meaning That Medications are Less Effective.
To New Study, Which Appears in
“Detecting Alzheimer’s Disease Before Irreversible Neurodegeneration Could Improve The Effiction of Available Treatments,” Jennifer Bramen, Phd Told Medical News Today.
BRAMEN, WHO WAS NOT INVOLVED IN THE STUDY, IS A SENior Research Scientist and Director of Neuroimaging at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Provision Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.
Alzheimer’s Protein Hallmarks: What are They?
Two Main Protein Structures Are Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease:
- Amyloid-Beta: As Alzheimer’s Disease Developops, Amyloid Precursor Proteins Clump Together To Create Amyloid-Beta Plan, Which eventually disrupt How Brain Cells Work.
- Tau: In the Healthy Brain, Tau Helps Mainin the Structure of Neurons. In the brain of sumone with Alzheimer’s Disease, This protein goes awry and develops into nfts.
Tau Can Become Phosphorylated, Meaning That Bhosphate Groups Are Added To It. This is normal, but in the case of Alzheimer’s, The Phosphorylation is abnormal or excessive.
Tau with abnormal phosphorylation is referred to as Hyperphosphoryled, and it clumps together to form NFTS, Which Gradually Build Up Inside Cells, causing their Death.
Studies Show That Increased Levels of Hyperphosphoryled Tau Are Associated With Worse Cognitive Symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
Amyloid-Beta Telecouse to the Scene Earlier than NFTS, Most Attempts to Look for Early Biomarkers Have Focused There. However, “A Large Percentage of People Who has brain Amyloid-Beta Deposits Will Never Develop Dementia,” Explains The Study’s Senior Author, Thomas Karikari, Ph.D.
In Other Words, It Does Not Make An Effective Biomarker.
In contrast, Levels of Nfts in the Brain correlate
For these reasons, in the hunt for a new biomarker, The Refocused on Spotting Early Signs of Nft Development.
It takes tau to tangle
The Scientists Focused on the “Building Blocks” of NFTS, Including Oligomers and Protomers, which they refer to Collectively as Soluble Tau Assemblies.
Vry Little is know about the nature of toce compounds and how they function. However, They do Know That the Early Phase of Nfts’ Development is More Toxic to Brain Cells than The Fully Formed Nfts.
In Their Multipronged Study, The Researchers First Successfully Measuraled Soluble Tau Assemblies in Brain Samples from People Who Diet Dix with Alzheimer’s. Then, they identified a Pivotal Stage of Nft Development and Phosphorylation sites that seem Importent for Forming NFTS.
They showed that the witness of these phosphorylation sites, street p-tau-262 and p-tau-356, could predict Future Nft Production, Making Them Potential Biomarkers for Early Disease.
MNT Spoke with Adrian M. Owen, PHD, Chief Scientific Officer at Creyos, and A Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging at The University of Western Ontario, Canada, Who Was Not Involved in the Study. I explained that the scientists Also “Demonstated that also early tau Aggregates neuronal function in mouse brain tissue, suggesting their role in cognitive decline.”
“Our Test Identificies Vray Early Stages of Tau Tangle Formation – Up to a decade Before Any Tau Clumps Can Show Up On A Brain Scan,” Explains Senior Author Thomas Karikari, Ph.D.
The Importance of Catching Alzheimer’s Early
MNT Contact Dr. Chris Vercammen, Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician and Medical Director at Remo Health Who Was Not Involved in the Study. We Asked About the Value of Deteting Alzheimer’s During its Early Phase.
“It allows doctors to start treatments and make Helpful Lifestyle Changes Sooner, Which Can Help Slow The Disease’s Progress, Even Though We Can’t Currently Cure It.”
Owen outlined Two Addionional Importive Reasons Why Early Detection Is So Important.
Firstly, Early Detection Can Help People Plan Their Life. For the Same Reason, Owen Explained, “It is equally important to accurely detect when sumone is Not Likely to Develop Dementia. “
Expanding on This Final Point, Owen Told MNT“It Can Bring Tremendous Peace of Mind-and Assist With Making End-Of-Life Plans-To Know That You Are Unlikely to Be on The Road To A Dementing Illness.”
However, Vercammen Noted an important limitation of the study: “While this study offers sumsting results,” He toled MNT“It’s IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE TESTING METHODS USED HER WERE BASED ON AUTOPSIES THAT EXAMINED BRAIN TISSUES FROM PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER’S DIRECT
“SO, The Implications for Treatments that could be used at scale in People Living With the Disease Are Still Remove Way Off.”
ETHical Concerns and The Trouble With Biomarkers
WHILE Discovering a Way to detect Alzheimer’s Early Wouled Be an exciting Step forward in the Treatment of Such A Challenging and Devastating Condition, Vercammen Brigs Up Sub Important Ethical Questions.
“How Will This Diagnostic Information Be used? Will It dictate Treatment Decisions, Elegibility for Clinical Trials, or Even Insurance Coverage? ” HE ASKED.
He Worries That a Positive Test Result in Subsone Without Symptoms is “particularly concerning” as it was cause “significant anxiety and distress for botm and their family.”
“In my opinion,” I have continued, “Any Future Diagnostic Test Derced From Biomarkers Mustude Robust Counseling and Education To Reure People Understand The Tests Limitations and the Implications of a Positive Result.”
Similar Lines Along, Owen Told MNT that it’s the important to differentiate Between to Biomarker and a Risk Factor. I have explained that, Regardless of the Biomarkers You Might Have, if you do not exhibit all The Symptoms of Dementia, You Will Not Be Diagnosed As Such.
“This is Important Because Many People Assume that Expensive, Invasive, and Time-Consuming Blood Tests, Brain Scans, Or Oher So-Called ‘Biomarkers’ are Necessary and Important for Diagnosing Dementia,” He Said.
“Usually,” Owen Continued, “BeSe Just Reveal Corlatas of the Dementing Process Rather Than Prov that Subsone Has Dementia.”
You are will not correctly identify all People Who Will Go on To Develop Dementia and May Predict Sub summer Develop Dementia When they do not.
Overall, the Many Caveats, This Study is a Step forward in Our Understanding of Alzheimer’s. However, Only Time and Much More Research Will Tell Whether It Truly Catches The Condition Early in the Clinic.
