Clusterin linked to onset of Alzheimer's
Source: Agencies |
July 7, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HIGH levels of a blood protein called clusterin are linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease, scientists said on Monday - a finding that may allow doctors to detect the disease before it takes hold.
Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London said that while doctors are about five years from being able to do a test to identify future Alzheimer's sufferers, it was a big step along the way.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia - a brain-wasting condition that affects around 35 million people around the world - and despite decades of research, doctors still have few effective weapons against it.
Drugs can relieve some symptoms, but patients gradually lose their memories, their ability to navigate and understand the world, and to care for themselves.
This research team used a technique called proteomics, which analyses proteins, to conduct two "discovery phase" studies in 95 patients. They found that clusterin appeared to be linked with the early signs of Alzheimer's. The findings were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal.
"We found that this clusterin protein was increased in blood as much as 10 years before people had the signs of Alzheimer's ..." said Simon Lovestone, who led the study. "And even when they had signs of disease in their brains, they still had no clinical signs of the disorder - so this suggests that this is a really early change that occurs in people who are going to get the disease."
Lovestone stressed that there was still a lot more work to do before a test could be used by doctors in clinics.
Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London said that while doctors are about five years from being able to do a test to identify future Alzheimer's sufferers, it was a big step along the way.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia - a brain-wasting condition that affects around 35 million people around the world - and despite decades of research, doctors still have few effective weapons against it.
Drugs can relieve some symptoms, but patients gradually lose their memories, their ability to navigate and understand the world, and to care for themselves.
This research team used a technique called proteomics, which analyses proteins, to conduct two "discovery phase" studies in 95 patients. They found that clusterin appeared to be linked with the early signs of Alzheimer's. The findings were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal.
"We found that this clusterin protein was increased in blood as much as 10 years before people had the signs of Alzheimer's ..." said Simon Lovestone, who led the study. "And even when they had signs of disease in their brains, they still had no clinical signs of the disorder - so this suggests that this is a really early change that occurs in people who are going to get the disease."
Lovestone stressed that there was still a lot more work to do before a test could be used by doctors in clinics.
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