2024 Alzheimer's Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship (AACSF)
Glial Reactivity Marker Predictive Value on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in AD
Could a blood test help predict a person’s risk of developing cognitive symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s?
Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli, M.D.
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
Porto Alegre, PA - Brazil
Background
Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s can occur long before a person experiences any cognitive symptoms. However, these brain changes can be difficult to detect. Individuals with Alzheimer’s benefit most from treatments that occur early in disease progression, one challenge in Alzheimer’s research is to identify individuals at highest risk of developing cognitive symptoms later on.
Previous research by Dr. Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli and colleagues has demonstrated specific changes in brain cells with certain cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s. These changes include the activation of glial cells that are found in the brain and support nerve cell function. The researchers have identified these glial cell changes using simple blood tests. The blood tests measure biological markers, or biomarkers, associated with glial cell activity.
Research Plan
In their current study, Dr. Schaffer Aguzzoli’s team will investigate glial cell changes in people at all stages of Alzheimer’s. They will leverage an existing database containing brain scan, blood sample, and cognitive test results from people across Alzheimer’s spectrum. Their goal is to determine if early blood tests might help identify people at highest risk of developing cognitive symptoms later on.
The researchers will measure glial cell activity in blood samples collected from 620 older adults, including healthy people and people with Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment (a condition that often precedes Alzheimer’s). They will compare the results to brain scan data measuring levels of tau and beta-amyloid (hallmark proteins of Alzheimer’s) to understand each person’s disease severity. The study participants will also complete detailed surveys that measure 12 different kinds of cognitive symptoms. Participants will provide these data at the start of the study and 18 months later. Dr. Schaffer Aguzzoli’s team will then compare the results to understand which glial cell biomarkers, detectable via blood tests, are associated with development of which cognitive symptoms 18 months later.
Impact
This study is one of the first to assess whether specific biomarkers associated with glial cells might help predict a person’s risk of developing cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s. This study may lead to new tests to help diagnose Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages, when treatments are most effective.