Beaumont develops blood test to detect Alzheimer’s disease

Southfield-based Beaumont Health researchers have discovered a blood test that may provide an early prediction of Alzheimer’s disease in patients.

The research team used artificial intelligence and a deep learning process to analyze DNA extracted from whole blood samples. The analysis found 152 significant genetic differences between patients with Alzheimer’s disease and healthy patients.

Findings reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals PLOS ONE.. It may provide a diagnosis to the patient before symptoms appear and the brain is already irreversibly damaged. Brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease are thought to precede the onset of symptoms years, and about 60 percent of patients are women.

“Because the Holy Grail is to identify patients in the preclinical stage, we can study and ultimately use effective early interventions, including new drugs,” said Research Leader and Beaumont Obstetrics. The chair, Dr. Bahadshin, said. , And a gynecologist and a female health expert. “That’s why I’m so excited about the results of this study.”

Worldwide, more than 47 million individuals have Alzheimer’s disease. This is the most common form of age-related dementia. As the population ages, 75 million people will be affected by Alzheimer’s disease by 2030, with an additional 131 million by 2050, which the World Health Organization estimates to be global health. Declared as a priority.

The disease is caused by the accumulation of plaque, inflammation, and ultimately the accumulation of proteins in the brain that cause the death of brain cells. Most patients are not diagnosed until late in the disease. There is no cure for this disease, and treatment is limited to drugs that try to treat the condition and have little effect on the progression of the disease.

“The drugs used in the later stages of the disease do not seem to make much difference, so there is a great deal of interest in diagnosing the disease in the early stages,” he said, specializing in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other affected diseases. Said Dr. Imam. Senior citizens. “Delayed onset of symptoms can be very beneficial. Also, lumbar puncture or MRI can identify the onset of the disease, but it is invasive and / or expensive. And It is not possible to perform a spinal puncture on everyone over the age of 65, so blood is considered the preferred way to approach this, and it is relatively cheap compared to MRI and spinal puncture. The invasiveness is minimized. “

The analysis compared blood samples from 24 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 24 healthy patients. The researchers analyzed the white blood cells in the sample and compared biomarkers to see if they were genetically affected in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Part of the process of Alzheimer’s disease is inflammation of the brain that induces the production of white blood cells or white blood cells, which are genetically altered in the fight to fight the disease. Researchers searched for the resulting genetic markers, chemical modifications of genes that lead to changes in gene function. This indicates that the process of illness has begun.

Researchers used six different artificial intelligence platforms to study approximately 800,000 changes in the marker’s genome. The analysis was overseen by Buket Aydas, a collaborator in the Healthcare Analysis Division at Meridian Health in Detroit, and Hallil Biskin in the Computer Science Division at the University of Michigan. The study was also supported by Gaisinger’s Faculty of Molecular Functional Genomics and the University of Pennsylvania in Danville, Pennsylvania.

“What the results tell us is that there are significant changes in the accessible blood cells that can be used to detect Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Bahadsin. “Genetic analysis has shown that the presence or absence of Alzheimer’s disease can be accurately predicted and that we can read what is happening in the brain through the blood. The results also show me the reading of the abnormalities that are causing Alzheimer’s disease. This has the potential to develop targeted therapies to interrupt the disease process. “

The next steps will include organizing a larger study to recreate the researchers’ first findings next year.