A new blood test developed by researchers in the United States and Sweden offers a breakthrough in the diagnosis and progression monitoring of Alzheimer’s disease, providing clinicians with vital information on the extent of cognitive decline in affected patients.
Currently, blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease are primarily diagnostic, capable of confirming the presence of the condition. However, they do not provide insights into the clinical stage of the disease, such as the degree of memory or cognitive impairment. This new test, however, is capable of measuring the progression of the disease, providing a more comprehensive view of the patient’s condition.
Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Lund University in Sweden collaborated on the development of the test, which measures levels of a protein known as MTBR-tau243. This protein correlates with the accumulation of toxic tau aggregates in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. By analyzing blood levels of MTBR-tau243, clinicians can now distinguish between patients in the early and later stages of Alzheimer’s and also differentiate between Alzheimer’s-related cognitive decline and other potential causes of similar symptoms.
“This blood test clearly identifies Alzheimer’s tau tangles, which is our best biomarker measure of Alzheimer’s symptoms and dementia,” said Dr. Randall J. Bateman, co-senior author and Professor of Neurology at Washington University. “Currently, clinical practice lacks easy and accessible measures of Alzheimer’s tangles and dementia, and a tangle blood test like this could provide a much more reliable indication if the symptoms are indeed caused by Alzheimer’s, guiding treatment decisions.”
Published in Nature Medicine, the study demonstrated that MTBR-tau243 levels in the blood reflect the severity of tau aggregation in the brain with an impressive 92% accuracy. This analysis was conducted across two cohorts: 108 participants from the US and 55 from Sweden, followed by validation on an additional 739 Swedish participants.
The new test not only holds promise for enhancing diagnostic precision but also for guiding treatment strategies. It can help doctors identify which patients are more likely to benefit from specific drug therapies and provide crucial insights into the underlying causes of cognitive decline.
This advancement represents a significant step forward in Alzheimer’s research, offering hope for more targeted and effective management of the disease.
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