August 9, 2020          

 

Abstract: 

 

          Since Alzheimer's research began, the diagnosis of this disease was characterized by the buildup of beta-amyloid plaques as well as Tau tangles in the brain. This new revolutionary blood test that measures the amount of phospho-tau217, a specific Tau protein, could prove to quicken and lower the cost of Alzheimer's diagnosis.

 

Study: 

 

          Researchers found a correlation between high phospho-tau217 and elevated levels of Alzheimer’s disease rates. With the creation of this new blood test, researchers used this newfound blood test on 1,402 cognitively impaired and unimpaired participants from 3 different countries. For the cognitively impaired patients, a blood sample was tested from a year before their death, and a neuropathological assessment was done after their death. In the Arizona test samples, the plasma of the phospho-tau217 assay evidently discriminated between the participants with and without neuropathological diseases. This was done with a 98% accuracy in terms of tangles found spreading across the temporal lobe of the neurologically “ill” patients. For the Swedish sample, there was a 96% accuracy in the assay with discriminating between the participants with and without neuropathological impairments. The accuracy of these results were determined by comparing and analyzing tau PET scans as well as using CSF biomarkers with MRI images to determine the severity of the impairment. In the Colombian sample, no result was formally found, but the assay did begin to distinguish between the protein mutation carriers and non-carriers almost 20 years prior to the death of the carriers.

 

Conclusion: 

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          In all of the samples, the phospho-tau217 was a better performer in terms of neuropathological ailments compared to prior beliefs of tau protein mutations. The identification of this newfound protein and the development of the blood test to determine its concentration is an important step in neurological research. The new blood test and its accuracy proves to be an effective method to test and diagnose Alzhiemer's disease much earlier and more effectively, and revolutionizing Alzheimer's research and taking a forward step in finding a cure for this debilitating disease that affects over 6 millions Americans aged 65 and older.

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Source:

• Lund University. "New blood test shows great promise in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 July 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200729114404.htm>.