Alzheimer researchers in Spain have taken a step closer to finding a blood test to help in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. With approximately 75% of the estimated 36 million Alzheimer's sufferers worldwide yet to receive a reliable diagnosis, the potential impact on the lives of possible sufferers, present and future, could be significant.
There is a large amount of research supporting the theory that a group of peptides called beta amyloid (Abeta), which are found naturally in the body, are major contributors to Alzheimer's disease. Through a process, so far unclear to science, there is a build-up of these peptides in the brain that over a period of years cause memory complaints and other symptoms associated with the disease.Professor Manuel Sarasa, CSO and founder of Spanish research company Araclon Biotech, and his team have been perfecting blood tests "ABtest40" and "ABtest42" to measure the very small amounts of these peptides in the blood.
The study has shown that the tests for Abeta in blood find a high level of association between the peptide levels and the disease. Professor Sarasa said: "The importance of this is that studies could recruit earlier and at much less expense. Interventional therapies can be tested in earlier stages of the disease and once an effective therapy is found, this type of test will be well suited to population screening in the public health sector."
The results were published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
