One study reveals that a protein concentration test in the eye is a potential predictor of Alzheimer's disease (future)

According to a new study published in the US journal, low levels of beta-amyloid protein and tau protein, biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD), present in ocular fluid were badociated with low cognitive scores. Diary of Alzheimer's disease. Led by Boston Medical Center researchers, this study is the first to link these known AD protein biomarkers in the eye to their mental state. These results indicate that the proteins in the eye could be a potential source for an accessible and cost-effective test to predict future Alzheimer's disease.

Diagnosis and initiation of AD before symptom onset are essential for disease management because, by the time symptoms appear, it is often too late for current treatments to have a significant effect. Abnormal amounts of amyloid-β and tau proteins are biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and amyloid protein deposits in the brain begin several years before onset of disease symptoms. Previous research has shown an badociation between the low concentrations of amyloid-β and tau proteins present in cerebrospinal fluid obtained by lumbar puncture tests and preclinical AM, when pathological changes of AD occur in the brain, but before the onset of clinical symptoms. However, lumbar puncture tests are expensive and impractical for many patients.

In this study, the researchers used ocular fluid samples from 80 patients to undergo surgery. The fluid extracted during these surgeries is usually discarded. The researchers tested the ocular fluid to determine amyloid-β and tau protein levels, and correlated these rates with the results of a basic cognitive test. Low levels of these biomarker proteins were significantly badociated with lower cognitive scores in patients.

"These findings could help us put in place an accessible, minimally invasive test to determine the risk of Alzheimer's disease, particularly in patients with ocular disease," said Lauren Wright, MD, the first author of the study. Ophthalmology study and fellowship at BMC. "We found that some of the participants who had low levels of protein biomarkers in their eye fluid already had mild to moderate signs of dementia based on their cognitive scores."

These findings reaffirm previous studies suggesting that patients with eye disease present a risk of developing AD and suggest that further studies in patients with eye disease could yield results that could be generalized to larger populations.

"This is a big step forward in the discovery of the potential role of the eye in diagnosing preclinical Alzheimer's disease, and additional studies are needed to compare protein biomarkers in the eye with more neurological tests." in depth, "adds Manju Subramanian, lead author, lead investigator, and ophthalmologist at BMC.

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Boston Medical Center