Apparently there are 18 'signaling' proteins in plasma that can be used to help diagnose the presence of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study reported in Nature Medicine. Scientists assayed plasma from 85 Alzheimer's disease and from 79 non-Alzheimer subjects, looking for 120 known signaling proteins. Using half the samples, they found 18 signaling proteins that distinguished the Alzheimer's plasma samples from the others. hen they tested the remaining samples to see how well the chosen proteins were able to select the Alzheimer's. They found the testing procedure recognized 90% of the Alzheimer's plasma and 88% of the non-Alzheimer's. In another test, the signaling proteins were able to identify patients with mild cognitive impairment who went on to develop Alzheimer's in the next 2-6 years with 91% accuracy, and achieved 100% success in recognizing mild cognitive impairment subject who didn't develop Alzheimer's. |
