New research has established a blood-based test that could be used to predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease up to 3.5 years before clinical diagnosis.
The study supports the idea that components in the human blood can modulate the formation of new brain cells, a process termed neurogenesis.
Neurogenesis occurs in an important part of the brain called the hippocampus that is involved in learning and memory.
While Alzheimer’s disease affects the formation of new brain cells in the hippocampus during the early stages of the disease, previous studies have only been able to study neurogenesis in its later stages through autopsies.
To understand the early changes, King’s College London researchers collected blood samples over several years from 56 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition where someone will begin to experience a worsening of their memory or cognitive ability.
Of the 56 participants in the study, 36 went on to receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Aleksandra Maruszak, study joint first author, said: “We treated brain cells with blood taken from people with MCI, exploring how those cells changed in response to blood as Alzheimer’s disease progressed.”
In studying how blood affected the brain cells, the researchers made several key discoveries. The blood samples collected from participants over the years who subsequently deteriorated and developed Alzheimer’s disease promoted a decrease in cell growth and division and an increase in apoptotic cell death (the process by which cells are programmed to die). However, the researchers noted that these samples also increased the conversion of immature brain cells to hippocampal neurons.
Image credit | Science Photo Library
