JAKARTA - A certain type of circular RNA in the blood has the potential to help predict when Alzheimer's symptoms begin to appear. Additional experiments in the study showed that the levels of the molecule began to differ from normal conditions about two to four years before symptoms appeared.
The National Institutes of Health, or NIH, through its official website, quoted on Thursday, July 16, said the study was funded by the agency and analyzed blood data from more than 1,200 people from a number of separate research groups.
Researchers found 34 types of circular RNA or circular RNA related to Alzheimer's disease. Circular RNA is a circular genetic material that is more dynamic and reflects more recent brain activity.
The high rate of these circRNAs is associated with a nearly three-fold greater risk of developing symptoms. The findings suggest that circRNAs may be more sensitive in predicting the onset of symptoms than the Alzheimer's markers currently used.
Current Alzheimer's blood tests can detect amyloid plaque markers, one of the main hallmarks of the disease.
The test can give a positive result decades before memory or thinking problems appear. However, the results have not given much insight into the progression of the disease in a patient.
"In clinical services, the ability to recognize patients who are approaching the onset of symptoms will be very valuable," said National Institute on Aging Director Richard Hodes.
According to Hodes, this information can help researchers select the right participants for clinical trials and assess treatments that are effective in preventing cognitive decline.
Unlike amyloid plaques that slowly accumulate in the brain, circRNAs are much more dynamic and reflect more recent brain activity.
Carlos Cruchaga and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have previously linked circRNAs in the brain to dementia and the severity of the disorder in the nervous tissue.
The latest research then tested whether a similar relationship was also found in circRNAs circulating in the blood. Blood is much easier to take and examine than brain tissue.
The 34 circRNA-based prediction model is able to recognize people who have biological signs related to Alzheimer's. Its ability is almost equivalent to the model using pTau217, the main blood-based clinical marker for the disease.
However, in predicting the progression to symptomatic Alzheimer's, the circRNA model provided better results than the pTau217 model.
Similar results were obtained from samples of two separate study groups.
NIH said the results of the study could form the basis of the development of tests that help medical professionals identify potential recipients of new treatments and monitor their response to therapy, especially drugs that target amyloid plaques.
"Patients undergoing a new therapy to remove beta-amyloid can show negative pTau results, but still suffer from Alzheimer's," said Cruchaga.
According to Cruchaga, circular RNA can provide a more complete picture of the biological condition of a patient's disease.
The researchers are now working with commercial partners to develop a clinical test based on circRNAs in the blood.
"Good science and good models are important, but at the end of the day we're doing this to help people," Cruchaga said.
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