Biomarker Panel Discovered for AD

A PANEL OF PROTEONOMIC BIOMARKERS FOUND WITHINcerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be the key to early differentiationof Alzheimer disease (AD) from other dementias.The investigative team from Cornell Universityin Ithaca, New York, and Weill Medical Collegeat Cornell University in New York City studied 2000proteins extracted from CSF fluid specimens takenfrom 34 patients with AD and 34 controls (antemortem)to identify protein biomarkers specific to AD.

The investigators identified 23 proteins that togetheracted as a fingerprint of AD. Rate of sensitivitywas 93% and rate of specificity was 90%. Notsurprisingly, the implicated proteins are associatedwith the neuronal membrane and are involved inamyloid-ß transport, inflammatory processes, andproteolytic inhibition.

Weill Cornell researcher Erin Finehout, PhD, leadauthor of the study commented that the panelmight prove useful as a test to identify and treat ADbefore symptoms appear. Coauthor Norman Relkin,MD, associate professor of clinical neurology andneuroscience at Weill Cornell, announced that histeam is using the panel to study the effects of intravenousimmunoglobulin (IVIg) on AD. "Datagleaned from the use of the 23-protein screen suggeststhat IVIg may be having a positive impact onunderlying disease processes," he said.

The citation for this research is: Finehout EJ,Franck Z, Choe LH, et al. Cerebrospinal fluid proteonomicbiomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. AnnNeurol. 2006 Dec 13; [Epub ahead of print].
-Dee Rapposelli