IS A LARGE-SCALE SCREENING FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE POSSIBLE? YES, IN A FEW YEARS

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
F. Ribaldi ◽  
D. Altomare ◽  
G.B. Frisoni
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The European Union ◽  
New Era ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Recent Meeting ◽  
Large Scale Screening

Recent evidence on blood-based biomarkers is pointing the way towards a new era of large-scale, feasible, cost-effective and non-invasive screening for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This was one of the main focuses of the recent meeting of the European Union-North American Clinical Trials in AD (EU/US CTAD) Task Force, which took place in Barcelona in October 24-27, 2018, and convened drug and diagnostics developers from industry and academia in order to define a roadmap for the development and marketing of blood-based biomarkers (1).

scholarly journals Proteins and microRNAs are differentially expressed in tear fluid from patients with Alzheimer’s disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Kenny ◽  
Eva M. Jiménez-Mateos ◽  
María Ascensión Zea-Sevilla ◽  
Alberto Rábano ◽  
Pablo Gili-Manzanaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Specific Protein ◽  
Tear Fluid ◽  
Initiation Factor ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Potential Biomarker

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by a progressive loss of neurons and cognitive functions. Therefore, early diagnosis of AD is critical. The development of practical and non-invasive diagnostic tests for AD remains, however, an unmet need. In the present proof-of-concept study we investigated tear fluid as a novel source of disease-specific protein and microRNA-based biomarkers for AD development using samples from patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. Tear protein content was evaluated via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and microRNA content was profiled using a genome-wide high-throughput PCR-based platform. These complementary approaches identified enrichment of specific proteins and microRNAs in tear fluid of AD patients. In particular, we identified elongation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) as a unique protein present only in AD samples. Total microRNA abundance was found to be higher in tears from AD patients. Among individual microRNAs, microRNA-200b-5p was identified as a potential biomarker for AD with elevated levels present in AD tear fluid samples compared to controls. Our study suggests that tears may be a useful novel source of biomarkers for AD and that the identification and verification of biomarkers within tears may allow for the development of a non-invasive and cost-effective diagnostic test for AD.

scholarly journals PLASMA BIOMARKERS OF AD EMERGING AS ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT: AN EU/US CTAD TASK FORCE REPORT

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
R.J. Bateman ◽  
K. Blennow ◽  
R. Doody ◽  
S. Hendrix ◽  
S. Lovestone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Accurate Estimate ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Neurofilament Light ◽  
Stakeholder Collaboration ◽  
Task Force Report

There is an urgent need to develop reliable and sensitive blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that can be used for screening and to increase the efficiency of clinical trials. The European Union-North American Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force (EU/US CTAD Task Force) discussed the current status of blood-based AD biomarker development at its 2018 annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Recent improvements in technologies to assess plasma levels of amyloid beta indicate that a single sample of blood could provide an accurate estimate of brain amyloid positivity. Plasma neurofilament light protein appears to provide a good marker of neurodegeneration, although not specific for AD. Plasma tau shows some promising results but weak or no correlation with CSF tau levels, which may reflect rapid clearance of tau in the bloodstream. Blood samples analyzed using -omics and other approaches are also in development and may provide important insight into disease mechanisms as well as biomarker profiles for disease prediction. To advance these technologies, international multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential.

COMMENTARY: COMBINATION THERAPY FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: PERSPECTIVES OF THE EU/US CTAD TASK FORCE

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
E. Siemers
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
European Union ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Combination Therapies ◽  
Regulatory Pathways ◽  
The Eu

In October 2018, the European Union-North American Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force (EU/US CTAD Task Force) met to discuss an increasingly important topic, the scientific, regulatory, and logistical challenges to the development of combination therapies for AD. Challenges related to ever-changing scientific knowledge, challenges related to complex regulatory pathways and challenges related to the necessity for pharmaceutical companies to collaborate must all be addressed. These challenges must be met since task Force members unanimously agreed that successful treatment of AD will likely require combination therapies targeting multiple mechanisms and pathways.

scholarly journals Electroencephalography as a Non-Invasive Biomarker of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Forgotten Candidate to Substitute CSF Molecules?

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (19) ◽  
pp. 10889
Author(s):  
Paloma Monllor ◽  
Ana Cervera-Ferri ◽  
Maria-Angeles Lloret ◽  
Daniel Esteve ◽  
Begoña Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Molecular Markers ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Underlying Process ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Diagnosis And Prognosis ◽  
Over Time

Biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis are crucial in clinical practice. They should be objective and quantifiable and respond to specific therapeutic interventions. Optimal biomarkers should reflect the underlying process (pathological or not), be reproducible, widely available, and allow measurements repeatedly over time. Ideally, biomarkers should also be non-invasive and cost-effective. This review aims to focus on the usefulness and limitations of electroencephalography (EEG) in the search for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers. The main aim of this article is to review the evolution of the most used biomarkers in AD and the need for new peripheral and, ideally, non-invasive biomarkers. The characteristics of the EEG as a possible source for biomarkers will be revised, highlighting its advantages compared to the molecular markers available so far.

scholarly journals Extensive memory testing improves prediction of progression to MCI in late middle age

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Gustavson ◽  
Jeremy A. Elman ◽  
Mark Sanderson-Cimino ◽  
Carol E. Franz ◽  
Matthew S. Panizzon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
California Verbal Learning Test ◽  
Memory Tests ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Learning Test ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

AbstractINTRODUCTIONPredicting risk for Alzheimer’s disease when most people are likely still biomarker negative would aid earlier identification. We hypothesized that combining multiple memory tests and scores in middle-aged adults would provide useful, and non-invasive, prediction of 6-year progression to MCI.METHODSWe examined 849 men who were cognitively normal at baseline (mean age=55.69±2.45).RESULTSCalifornia Verbal Learning Test learning trials was the best individual predictor of amnestic MCI (OR=4.75). A latent factor incorporating 7 measures across 3 memory tests provided much stronger prediction (OR=9.88). This compared favorably with biomarker-based prediction in a study of much older adults.DISCUSSIONNeuropsychological tests are sensitive and early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease risk at an age when few individuals are likely to have yet become biomarker positive. Single best measures may appear time- and cost-effective, but 30 additional minutes of testing, and use of multiple scores within tests, provides substantially improved prediction

scholarly journals The Vagal Autonomic Pathway of COVID-19 at the Crossroad of Alzheimer’s Disease and Aging: A Review of Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 537-551
Author(s):  
Claire-Marie Rangon ◽  
Slavica Krantic ◽  
Emmanuel Moyse ◽  
Bertrand Fougère
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Vagus Nerve ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Large Scale Testing ◽  
Cholinergic Pathway ◽  
Autonomic Pathway ◽  
Respiratory Rhythms

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-triggered mortality is significantly higher in older than in younger populations worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is related to aging and was recently reported to be among the major risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in older people. The symptomatology of COVID-19 indicates that lethal outcomes of infection rely on neurogenic mechanisms. The present review compiles the available knowledge pointing to the convergence of COVID-19 complications with the mechanisms of autonomic dysfunctions in AD and aging. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is prone to neuroinvasion from the lung along the vagus nerve up to the brainstem autonomic nervous centers involved in the coupling of cardiovascular and respiratory rhythms. The brainstem autonomic network allows SARS-CoV-2 to trigger a neurogenic switch to hypertension and hypoventilation, which may act in synergy with aging- and AD-induced dysautonomias, along with an inflammatory “storm”. The lethal outcomes of COVID-19, like in AD and unhealthy aging, likely rely on a critical hypoactivity of the efferent vagus nerve cholinergic pathway, which is involved in lowering cardiovascular pressure and systemic inflammation tone. We further discuss the emerging evidence supporting the use of 1) the non-invasive stimulation of vagus nerve as an additional therapeutic approach for severe COVID-19, and 2) the demonstrated vagal tone index, i.e., heart rate variability, via smartphone-based applications as a non-serological low-cost diagnostic of COVID-19. These two well-known medical approaches are already available and now deserve large-scale testing on human cohorts in the context of both AD and COVID-19.

COMBINATION THERAPY FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: PERSPECTIVES OF THE EU/US CTAD TASK FORCE

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
S. Gauthier ◽  
J. Alam ◽  
H. Fillit ◽  
T. Iwatsubo ◽  
H. Liu-Seifert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
European Union ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Combination Therapy ◽  
Successful Treatment ◽  
Task Force ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Accelerate Development ◽  
The Eu

Combination therapy is expected to play an important role for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In October 2018, the European Union-North American Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force (EU/US CTAD Task Force) met to discuss scientific, regulatory, and logistical challenges to the development of combination therapy for AD and current efforts to address these challenges. Task Force members unanimously agreed that successful treatment of AD will likely require combination therapy approaches that target multiple mechanisms and pathways. They further agreed on the need for global collaboration and sharing of data and resources to accelerate development of such approaches.

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its Sulphate (DHEAS) in Alzheimer’s Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dubravka S. Strac ◽  
Marcela Konjevod ◽  
Matea N. Perkovic ◽  
Lucija Tudor ◽  
Gordana N. Erjavec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
And Behavior

Background: Neurosteroids Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulphate (DHEAS) are involved in many important brain functions, including neuronal plasticity and survival, cognition and behavior, demonstrating preventive and therapeutic potential in different neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. Objective: The aim of the article was to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature on the involvement of DHEA and DHEAS in Alzheimer’s disease. Method: PubMed and MEDLINE databases were searched for relevant literature. The articles were selected considering their titles and abstracts. In the selected full texts, lists of references were searched manually for additional articles. Results: We performed a systematic review of the studies investigating the role of DHEA and DHEAS in various in vitro and animal models, as well as in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and provided a comprehensive discussion on their potential preventive and therapeutic applications. Conclusion: Despite mixed results, the findings of various preclinical studies are generally supportive of the involvement of DHEA and DHEAS in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, showing some promise for potential benefits of these neurosteroids in the prevention and treatment. However, so far small clinical trials brought little evidence to support their therapy in AD. Therefore, large-scale human studies are needed to elucidate the specific effects of DHEA and DHEAS and their mechanisms of action, prior to their applications in clinical practice.

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