Undeterred by past setbacks, researchers continue to pursue a blood test
for Alzheimer’s disease. At the 66th annual meeting of the American
Academy of Neurology, held 26 April to 3 May in Philadelphia, one
presenter described a microarray technique that picks up a particular
antibody signature present in the blood of people with AD, but not in
most healthy controls. Researchers will test the method to see if it can
predict disease progression. Other groups focused on plasma Aβ, which
in past research has correlated poorly with amyloid in the brain. At
AAN, however, researchers reported that blood Aβ does associate with
vascular disease, a risk factor for AD. Moreover, a highly toxic form of
Aβ, pyroglutamate Aβ, abounds in the blood of middle-aged Down’s
syndrome patients. Together, the results suggest that the plasma may
harbor signs of AD, after all.
for Alzheimer’s disease. At the 66th annual meeting of the American
Academy of Neurology, held 26 April to 3 May in Philadelphia, one
presenter described a microarray technique that picks up a particular
antibody signature present in the blood of people with AD, but not in
most healthy controls. Researchers will test the method to see if it can
predict disease progression. Other groups focused on plasma Aβ, which
in past research has correlated poorly with amyloid in the brain. At
AAN, however, researchers reported that blood Aβ does associate with
vascular disease, a risk factor for AD. Moreover, a highly toxic form of
Aβ, pyroglutamate Aβ, abounds in the blood of middle-aged Down’s
syndrome patients. Together, the results suggest that the plasma may
harbor signs of AD, after all.
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