New blood test could detect Alzheimer’s disease years before diagnosis.

Scientists have discovered a new blood test that could detect Alzheimer’s disease three and a half years before a clinical diagnosis.

The blood-based test that could predict the risk of the condition is the result of new research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.

The research supports the idea that components in human blood can influence the formation of new brain cells, a process called neurogenesis.

The hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in memory and learning, is where the process takes place.

While the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease impair the development of new brain cells in the hippocampus, previous research has only been able to explore neurogenesis in its later phases through post-mortem exams.

Over a period of years, researchers gathered blood samples from 56 individuals with moderate cognitive impairment (MCI), a disorder that causes a person to start experiencing a deterioration in their memory or cognitive abilities.

Even though not all MCI patients go on to acquire Alzheimer’s disease, those who do do so considerably more quickly than the general population.

Of the 56 participants in the research, 36 had Alzheimer’s disease at some point.

The alterations in neurogenesis occurred 3.5 years prior to a clinical diagnosis, according to the findings when the researchers only examined blood samples taken the furthest away from when someone had Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed.

According to Prof. Sandrine Thuret, the study’s principal author from the institution, “Previous research have demonstrated that blood from young mice can have a rejuvenating effect on the cognition of older mice by boosting hippocampus neurogenesis.”

This inspired us to use human brain cells and blood to replicate the process of neurogenesis in a dish.

“In our work, we used this model to understand the process of neurogenesis and to utilize alterations in this process to forecast Alzheimer’s disease, and we found the first human evidence that the circulatory system may affect the brain’s capacity to generate new cells.”

The study discovered that blood samples taken from persons who later had Alzheimer’s disease inhibited cell development and proliferation.

The study discovered that they also encouraged a rise in apoptotic cell death, which is the method through which cells are designed to perish.

Although the causes of the enhanced neurogenesis are yet unknown, the researchers hypothesize that it could be an early form of compensation for the brain cell loss suffered by patients who acquire Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our findings are extremely important, potentially allowing us to predict onset of Alzheimer’s early in a non-invasive fashion,” said Dr Edina Silajdzic, the study’s joint first author.

“This could complement other blood-based biomarkers that reflect the classical signs of the disease, such as the accumulation of amyloid and tau [the ‘flagship’ proteins of Alzheimer’s disease].”