Scientists from Fudan University in Shanghai and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom have developed a new method to diagnose dementia early based on monitoring failures in the regulation of certain proteins in blood plasma. results published In the journal Nature Aging.
In a scientific study based on data from the UK Biobank, scientists analyzed blood samples from more than 52,600 people collected between 2006 and 2010. By March 2023, 1,417 had developed dementia.
To further examine the molecular mechanisms that might be predictive of this disease, scientists monitored the regulation of specific protein markers in the subjects’ blood plasma. Using machine learning and data mining techniques, the researchers combined specific proteins into a panel that could be used to predict the development of dementia.
Of the 1463 plasma proteins detected, GFAP, NEFL, GDF15, and LTBP2 were most associated with the occurrence of mixed Alzheimer-vascular dementia (ACD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD). People with higher GFAP levels were 2.32 times more likely to develop dementia, the researchers said.
Monitoring GFAP (or GDF15) regulation along with collecting demographic data could potentially be a way to detect dementia 10 years after the onset of symptoms, the researchers noted. Additionally, the NEFL protein begins to transform at least 10 years before diagnosis.
existed before discovered The link between long-term sitting and dementia.