Title:Blood-Based Biomarkers of Alzheimer´s Disease: Diagnostic Algorithms and New Technologies
Volume: 13
Issue: 4
Author(s): Pedro Carmona, Marina Molina and Adolfo Toledano
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Alzheimer’s Disease, amyloid, biomarkers, blood, blood cells, cytokines, chemokines, plasma, mild cognitive
impairment, serum, blood proteins, vibrational spectroscopy.
Abstract: New concepts about Alzheimer's disease (AD), considered as a clinical-biological entity,
make essential the definition of biomarkers that could be used for the in vivo diagnosis of the disorder
before dementia develops. Different types of genetic, biochemical and neuroimaging markers have
been described, highlighting some of the changes that occur in the brain during the course of the disease,
yet there is little proof of their pathognomonic and diagnostic value. Furthermore, many of the
assays used are difficult to perform, the equipment/reagents are expensive or potentially hazardous
(e.g.; use of radioactive compounds, CSF extraction). Thus, there is a need to define more suitable and
convenient approaches, such as the determination of blood parameters that are easy to obtain and that can be repeated as
necessary without contraindications. These data can be used by algorithms that combine specific and non-specific changes
to classify patients at different stages of AD and/or distinguish AD from other related diseases with a greater specificity
and reliability (> 80%). The blood parameters considered in this review are varied, including: β-amyloid, tau, apolipoproteins
and proteins, as well as the metabolic behavior of blood cells, etc. Among the proteins, cytokines/chemokines and
other cell factors related to both neuro-inflammatory and peripheral-inflammatory processes in AD are of prime importance.
New technologies to detect and quantify these substances, reasonably priced such as the vibrational spectroscopy,
panels of parameters and algorithms to assess the results, would be fundamental for the early AD diagnosis and to define
new potential therapies.
