Scientists Achieve Groundbreaking Breakthrough in Early Alzheimer’s Detection

Scientists may have discovered a groundbreaking diagnostic tool for identifying the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, offering hope for future early detection.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 5.8 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s, making it the most prevalent form of dementia. The disease is characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline in areas of the brain responsible for thinking, memory, and language.

Though the exact cause of Alzheimer’s remains unclear, scientists believe it is linked to the abnormal accumulation of proteins in and around brain cells.

At present, there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s. However, new medications show promise in providing relief and slowing down the progression of symptoms, particularly when the disease is detected early.

“The disease begins to develop 20 years before symptoms appear, making early detection crucial, especially considering the emergence of new therapeutic medications,” explained Per Nilsson, one of the authors of the study. Nilsson is an associate professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

In 2022, scientists developed a simple blood test capable of detecting abnormally folded proteins, thereby indicating the early signs of Alzheimer’s even before symptoms manifest.

However, in their recent study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, Nilsson and his team made a groundbreaking discovery. They found that a metabolic increase occurs in the brain’s hippocampus, an area responsible for memory and learning. This finding may enable even earlier diagnostic tests for the disease.

“Interestingly, metabolic changes become apparent before any accumulation of insoluble plaques, which are a hallmark of the disease,” noted Maria Ankarcrona, a professor and co-author of the study.

“These changes in energy balance align with previous observations of the Alzheimer’s-affected brain, but now we have detected them at an earlier stage,” she added.

The team examined the cells in the hippocampus of mice at different stages of Alzheimer’s progression to analyze these metabolic changes. They observed an increase in mitochondrial metabolism, the cellular powerhouses responsible for energy production.

This metabolic increase was accompanied by a disruption in the mice’s cellular recycling systems, leading to the accumulation of damaged proteins at the junctions between nerve cells in the brain.

“These findings underscore the importance of maintaining functional mitochondria and normal protein metabolism,” Nilsson emphasized. “Moving forward, we can conduct tests on mice to investigate whether new molecules that stabilize mitochondrial and autophagic (cellular recycling) functions can slow down the progression of the disease.”