Early Alzheimer’s detection now possible with new blood test

A recent study revealed that an experimental blood test for Alzheimer’s disease not only can help in accurate diagnosis but also indicate the severity of neurological disorders.

Researchers stated in the journal Nature Medicine that the test is able to track the levels of a protein, which is known as MTBR-tau243, associated with a plaque that builds up in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease.

Co-senior author Dr. Randall Bateman, a professor of neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis stated, “This blood test clearly identifies Alzheimer’s tau tangles, which is our best biomarker measure of Alzheimer’s symptoms and dementia.”

The study further revealed that toxic deposition of amyloid beta and tau proteins are two of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

Brain scans are considered the gold standard for detecting Alzheimer’s, but they are time-consuming and expensive.

Bateman and his fellow researchers have developed two blood tests in clinical use that are able to track the buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain.

This test is based on blood data from 108 U.S. patients and 55 Swedish patients and another group of healthy individuals to check its precision.

The group of patients represented a range consisting of all but the most severe cases of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers stated.

Results indicated that blood levels of MTBR-tau243 showed the amount of tau tangles in an individual’s brain with 92% precision.

MTBR-tau243 levels were significantly increased in individuals with mild cognitive disorder, and approximately 200 times higher for those who had developed dementia.

However, the protein levels in individuals with no symptoms of cognitive decline were normal, even if they had developed amyloid plaques.

These blood tests may guide Alzheimer’s patients to upcoming drugs that will one day target tau proteins and other aspects of the brain disorder.