Plasma proteomics for the identification of Alzheimer disease

Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2013 Oct-Dec;27(4):337-42. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0b013e31827b60d2.

Abstract

Less-invasive biomarkers for early Alzheimer disease (AD) are urgently needed. The present study aimed to establish a panel of plasma proteins that accurately distinguishes early AD from physiological aging and to compare the findings with previous reports. Fifty-eight healthy controls (CON) and 109 patients with AD dementia were randomly split into a training (40%) and a test (60%) sample. Significant proteins to differentiate between the CON and AD dementia groups were identified in a comprehensive panel of 107 plasma analytes in the training sample; the accuracy in differentiating these 2 groups was explored in the test sample. A set of 5 plasma proteins was identified, which differentiated between the CON group and the AD dementia group with a sensitivity of 89.36% and a specificity of 79.17%. A biological pathway analysis showed that 4 of 5 proteins belonged to a common network with amyloid precursor protein and tau. Apolipoprotein E was the only protein that was both significant in the present report and in a previous proteomic study. The study provides a piece of evidence in support of the feasibility of a blood-based biomarker approach in AD diagnostics; however, further research is required because of issues with replicability.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / blood*
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis*
  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics
  • Apolipoproteins E / blood
  • Apolipoproteins E / genetics
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Blood Proteins / genetics*
  • Blood Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Proteomics / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Apolipoproteins E
  • Biomarkers
  • Blood Proteins