Researchers at Karolinska Institute (KI) in Sweden have identified a sugar molecule as a potential new biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease that can be detected in the blood of individuals up to ten years prior to diagnosis.
According to the Alzheimer’s association, nearly seven million Americans are suffering from the disease, with the number being expected to have almost doubled by 2050. Because early detection of Alzheimer’s is crucial to prevent irreversible damage to neurons, the hunt for biomarkers that could be used to predict the illness before it’s too late, is at an all time high.
Reporting in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, scientists at KI have now shown that the blood levels of a certain glycan, called bisected N-acetylglucosamine, can be used to predict the risk of an individual developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future. Glycans are sugar molecules found on the surface of proteins allowing scientists to localize them.
“The role of glycans, structures made up of sugar molecules, is a relatively unexplored field in dementia research,” said Robin Zhou, medical student and affiliated researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), KI and first author of the study.
“We demonstrate in our study that blood levels of glycans are altered early during the development of the disease. This could mean that we’ll be able to predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease with only a blood test and a memory test.”
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