Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimers disease needs dependable and affordable screening methods. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have actually now discovered that a type of sugar particle in blood is associated with the level of tau, a protein that plays a crucial role in the development of extreme dementia.” The role of glycans, structures made up of sugar molecules, is a fairly untouched field in dementia research,” says the research studys first author Robin Zhou, medical student and associated researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet. “We demonstrate in our study that blood levels of glycans are modified early during the advancement of the disease. This might imply that well be able to anticipate the risk of Alzheimers disease with just a blood test and a memory test.”
More blood biomarkers required
There is both a practical and a financial requirement for non-invasive screening methods for Alzheimers. Markers in blood are more effective, as taking samples of the cerebrospinal fluid is more difficult and brain imaging is costly.
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have actually now shown that the level of a specific glycan structure in blood, denoted bisected N-acetylglucosamine, can be utilized to anticipate the threat of developing Alzheimers disease.
The research group has actually previously shown a link in between tau protein and glycan levels in individuals with Alzheimers illness, but these analyses were done on cerebrospinal fluid. Glycans are sugar particles found on the surface area of proteins, the structure blocks of life, and identify the location and function of these proteins in the body.
By determining blood glycan levels the researchers found that people with matching levels of glycans and tau were over twice as most likely to develop Alzheimers- type dementia.
” We also show that an easy statistical design that consider blood glycan and tau levels, the danger gene APOE4 and a memory test, can be utilized to anticipate Alzheimers disease to a reliability of 80 percent practically a decade before symptoms such as memory loss appear,” says corresponding author Sophia Schedin Weiss, docent at NVS, Karolinska Institutet.
17-year follow-up
The results are based upon 233 participants of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). The samples were gathered between 2001 and 2004, and the individuals were monitored regularly with regard to factors such as memory loss and the presence of dementia. The follow-ups were carried out every 3 to six years and continued for 17 years.
The scientists will now be analyzing blood samples from the remaining individuals of the SNAC-K study along with from participants of other aging studies in and outside Sweden.
” Were teaming up with scientists in primary care in Sweden to assess different biomarkers for dementia at main healthcare centers,” states Dr. Schedin Weiss. “We hope that glycans in the blood will show to be a valuable enhance to present techniques of screening people for Alzheimers disease that will make it possible for the illness to be discovered early.”
Recommendation: “A glycan epitope associates with tau in serum and anticipates development to Alzheimers disease in combination with APOE4 allele status”. Robin Ziyue Zhou, Davide Liborio Vetrano, Giulia Grande, Frida Duell, Linus Jönsson, Erika J Laukka, Claudia Fredolini, Bengt Winblad, Lars Tjernberg, Sophia Schedin-Weiss, 12 April 2023, Alzheimers & & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association.DOI: 10.1002/ alz.13024.
The research study was carried out by researchers in Lars Tjernbergs research study group at the Division of Neurogeriatrics at Karolinska Institutet in partnership with the Aging Research Centre at Karolinska Institutet, the Stockholm Gerontology Research Center and Karolinska University Hospital.
It was funded by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, Stiftelsen Gamla Tjänarinnor, the Gun and Bertil Stohnes Foundation, the Swedish Alzheimers Foundation, Stiftelsen Dementia, JPND, Vinnova and Region Stockholm (ALF). The scientists report no conflicts of interest.
Swedish researchers have found a link in between blood sugar molecules and Alzheimers- related protein, using a easy and affordable screening approach to predict Alzheimers threat up to 10 years prior to signs appear.
Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimers disease needs dependable and cost-effective screening methods. Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now discovered that a type of sugar particle in blood is related to the level of tau, a protein that plays an important function in the development of severe dementia. The research study, which is published in Alzheimers & & Dementia, can lead the way for a simple screening treatment able to predict beginning 10 years ahead of time.
” The role of glycans, structures made up of sugar molecules, is a relatively uncharted field in dementia research,” states the studys first author Robin Zhou, medical trainee and associated scientist at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet. “We demonstrate in our research study that blood levels of glycans are modified early during the development of the illness. This might mean that well have the ability to anticipate the risk of Alzheimers illness with only a blood test and a memory test.”
In Alzheimers disease, the nerve cells of the brain die, which is thought to be an outcome of the unusual accumulation of the proteins amyloid beta and tau. Scientific trials for Alzheimers drugs reveal that treatment must commence early in the pathological process, before too numerous neurons have died, to reverse the process before it is too late.