Catalyst Awardee

Project Description

Evolving the Existing CSF Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease into Blood Samples and Brain-derived Blood Exosomes, and Practical Application of the Newly Developed Multi-item Blood-Based Biomarkers for the Diagnostic System of Alzheimer’s Disease

Takahiko Tokuda, Ph.D., M.D. | National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology; Harutsugu Tatebe, Ph.D. | National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology
Competition Sponsor: Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Awardee Year: 2020

Many studies have established the usefulness of “ATN” BMs, which are imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (BMs) reflecting Aβ aggregation (A), aggregated tau (T) and neurodegeneration (N), in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, these BMs are currently not widely used in medical sites providing treatment for dementia due to expensive, inefficient, and invasive nature of those BMs. In this study, we aim at the establishment of the blood-based diagnosis system for AD (Rapid, Easy, non-Invasive and Widely-Available Alzheimer’s disease Diagnosis = REIWA-AD) by using multiple blood biomarkers that are rapid, easy, noninvasive, widely available, and accordingly able to overcome faults of conventional BMs. If such “blood BM panel for AD diagnosis” comes into practical use, it can provide an accurate diagnosis and staging of AD even at family doctors or in general hospitals. Moreover, blood BMs can be applied to large-scale screening and provide life guidance and appropriate preemptive therapies for asymptomatic subjects. In other words, blood BMs allowed us to shift the focus of dementia treatment to disease prevention, and it being the correct choice and stratification of the participants and objective evaluations of effectiveness of investigational drugs in the clinical trials for AD.

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