A protein has been discovered in the blood of people who go on to develop mild cognitive impairment several years later, British researchers announced today.
The discovery could improve early diagnosis and efforts to prevent the disease developing.
Dr Steven Kiddle of King’s College London, UK, and colleagues explain there are currently no treatments that can reliably prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Prevention studies are hampered because, while brain scans can display signs of the disease before the symptoms begin, the scans are timely and costly. So the team set out to identify blood markers which may indicate an individual’s future risk of Alzheimer’s.
Their study took blood from over 100 sets of healthy twin volunteers, of whom 55 were identical twin-pairs, and measured over 1,000 proteins in the samples. They used a protein biomarker discovery tool, and assessed each individual’s cognitive ability over the next ten years. Results suggested that blood levels of a protein called MAPKAPK5 tended to be lower in those whose cognitive ability declined.
Findings are published today (17 June) in the journal Translational Psychiatry. The authors point out that the use of twins in the study allows them to show that the link between MAPKAPK5 and decline in cognitive ability was independent of age and genetics.
"Although we are still searching for an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, what we do know is that prevention of the disease is likely to be more effective than trying to reverse it," said Dr Kiddle.
"The next step will be to replicate our finding in an independent study, and to confirm whether or not it is specific for Alzheimer’s disease, as this could lead to the development of a reliable blood test which would help clinicians identify suitable people for prevention trials."
Kiddle, S. et al. Plasma protein biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease endophenotypes in asymptomatic older twins: early cognitive decline and regional bran volumes. Translational Psychiatry 17 June 2015
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