Reasons Why Science Is Awesomesauce, #373
A Skin Test for Alzheimer's Disease: Scientists aim to commercialize a test that detects an inflammatory marker in skin.
In part:
The new test, developed by Daniel Alkon, scientific director of BRNI, targets a group of enzymes called PKCs, which are involved in long-term memory storage. Alkon and others have found that a select set of these enzymes becomes dysfunctional in Alzheimer's disease, both in brain cells and in skin cells. (While Alzheimer's is primarily considered a neurological disease, research over the past decade has revealed signs of the disease outside of the brain.) In addition, activating the enzymes in animal models of the disease alleviates symptoms, preventing memory loss as well as the abnormal aggregations of protein that build up in the brain.
To perform the test, physicians collect a small sample of skin cells, which are then grown in a dish. Researchers add a specific inflammatory molecule called bradykinin, which activates PKCs under normal circumstances; a dysfunctional response suggests Alzheimer's. Preliminary results from a study of 600 patients are promising: the test correctly diagnosed 36 out of 37 patients confirmed on autopsy to have the disease, as well as 5 patients confirmed on autopsy not to have it.
In part:
The new test, developed by Daniel Alkon, scientific director of BRNI, targets a group of enzymes called PKCs, which are involved in long-term memory storage. Alkon and others have found that a select set of these enzymes becomes dysfunctional in Alzheimer's disease, both in brain cells and in skin cells. (While Alzheimer's is primarily considered a neurological disease, research over the past decade has revealed signs of the disease outside of the brain.) In addition, activating the enzymes in animal models of the disease alleviates symptoms, preventing memory loss as well as the abnormal aggregations of protein that build up in the brain.
To perform the test, physicians collect a small sample of skin cells, which are then grown in a dish. Researchers add a specific inflammatory molecule called bradykinin, which activates PKCs under normal circumstances; a dysfunctional response suggests Alzheimer's. Preliminary results from a study of 600 patients are promising: the test correctly diagnosed 36 out of 37 patients confirmed on autopsy to have the disease, as well as 5 patients confirmed on autopsy not to have it.