1 week Ago By Gemma Garrido Granger
The future of early detection of Alzheimer's, the world's leading neurodegenerative disease, lies in blood tests. The international scientific community has long since made this a reality by proposing, designing, and marketing several examples of biomarker tests—any biological molecule that can be identified and quantified—in blood. Now, a study with more than 1,700 people conducted by five hospitals and university centers in Barcelona, Sweden, and Italy has validated the usefulness of a test for detecting the disease in its early stages and with great precision.
The test has an efficacy rate of around 90%, similar to that of the standard test, the lumbar puncture, and its proponents claim that it can significantly reduce the costs associated with diagnosis: at least 60% (and up to 81%) compared to current tests. The journal has published an article this Wednesday with the results of this tool Europe (but designed by a Japanese company), stating that "it can be useful and applicable in routine medical practice." It was led by researchers from the Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center (BBRC), the Pasqual Maragall Foundation research center, and the Hospital del Mar Research Institute.
The hospital and university of Brescia (Italy) and the universities of Gothenburg and Lund (Sweden) also participated in the study, validating its ability to predict the risk of Alzheimer's in people with symptoms of cognitive decline based on blood detection. In this case, the experts used a biomarker called phospho-tau217, which is easily detectable in blood. This test can also be performed in any clinical laboratory; that is, highly sophisticated systems or systems different from those used in clinics are not required.
This reduces costs, and, combined with its large-scale applicability, this new tool "can contribute to democratizing access to early diagnosis and, in the medium term, improve the clinical approach to the disease," its creators insist. The test, designed by Fujirebio, is called Lumipulse p-tau217 and allows for establishing levels at which a person is likely to develop the disease or is at risk. "This can allow us to determine which people should undergo further testing, such as a lumbar puncture or positron emission tomography (PET) scan with beta-amyloid, and which ones no longer require further testing, as it allows for very precise detection of Alzheimer's in its early stages," explains doctor Marco Suárez-Calvet.
Useful at young ages According to the neurologist, the test establishes two cutoff points (a range of values) by which the patient's symptoms can be considered to be caused by Alzheimer's. It also determines whether the disease can be ruled out or whether further testing is necessary to determine this. Thus, those who present a biomarker level between these two values are indicated for further diagnostic testing.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers took into account both the patients' possible underlying diseases (diabetes or kidney function) and their age, and concluded that the test is more reliable the younger the user is (under 80 years old). "These results should always be interpreted by a neurologist or other specialized healthcare professional, after an appropriate neurological assessment. Never as a stand-alone test," insists Suárez-Calvet.
Furthermore, the authors warn that further studies will be necessary to implement it in clinical practice. Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative diseases affect 900,000 people—one in ten people over 65 and a third of those over 85. These pathologies are one of the leading causes of mortality, disability, and dependency.
Even without widespread treatments and with life expectancy on the rise, projections indicate that by 2050 the number of cases could triple worldwide and exceed one and a half million people in Spain alone, something that could collapse healthcare and care systems..
