Erythrocyte Associated Amyloid-β as Potential Biomarker to Diagnose Dementia

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

E-ISSN: 1875-5828|15|4|381-385

ISSN: 1567-2050

Source: Current Alzheimer Research, Vol.15, Iss.4, 2018-02, pp. : 381-385

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Abstract

Background: Although it is known that Alzheimer#39;s disease (AD) is associated with the progressiveaccumulation of amyloid #946;-peptide (A#946;) in the human brain, its pathogenic role has to be completelyclarified. A#946; moves from the bloodbrain barrier to the plasma and an increased A#946; production inbrain could be associated with higher A#946; concentrations in blood. A recent study has evaluated A#946;40and A#946;42 levels in human red blood cells (RBCs) with evidence of agedependent higher A#946; concentrationin RBCs.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate if erythrocyte associated A#946; (iA#946;) levels could bedifferent in subjects affected by dementia in comparison with controls and according to the patient’scognitive impairment or different dementia subtypes.

Method: To answer these questions we assessed iA#946;40 and iA#946;42 levels in 116 patients: 32 healthycontrols, 39 with diagnosis of vascular dementia (VaD), 14 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 31AD.

Results: In this population we found significant differences in iA#946;42 between controls and cognitiveimpaired patients. Moreover, iA#946;42 significantly differed between dementia vs MCI. AD also showeddifferent iA#946;42 levels as compared to VaD. Conversely, no differences were found for iA#946;40. All theanalyses were adjusted for potential confounders like age, gender and Hb concentration. A direct correlationbetween increasing iA#946;42 concentration and the progression of the cognitive decline using theMMSE score as continuous variable was also found.

Conclusion: Our findings support the evidence that iA#946;42 could be an instrument to early recognizedementia and predict cognitive impairment.

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