Scientists uncover new clues in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's

(Medical Xpress) -- Scientists in Nottingham have found abnormal levels of seven different proteins in spinal fluid could act as markers for detecting Alzheimer’s disease.
One protein in particular, called SPARCL1, was the strongest predictor for the disease. When the CSF samples were tested for changes in SPARCL1 alone, the researchers were able to detect whether a person had Alzheimer’s disease with 65 per cent accuracy. When they checked for abnormal levels of all seven proteins, accuracy improved to 95 per cent. The discovery of SPARCL1, amongst other proteins, resulted from the application of technologies developed at the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre.