MEDIA RELEASE
10 March 2012
Alzheimer's may soon be a distant memory
Two teams of Australian researchers have identified new approaches for the
diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which could potentially result in
new and definitive ways to accurately determine the presence of the disease before
more debilitating symptoms arise.
The diagnosis of AD is currently only possible via post-mortem examination of the
brain for the disease’s characteristic neuropathology. However, detecting and
treating AD early is paramount to preventing it from causing widespread damage to
the brain.
Speaking at The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) 11th annual
Pathology Update conference at the Sydney Convention Centre in Darling Harbour
on Saturday, two teams of scientists announced the results of years of research,
highlighting a range of possible biomarkers which could result in a new diagnostic
and therapeutic approach to tackling the disease.
Dr Simon Laws, from Edith Cowan University and the Australian Imaging Biomarker
and Lifestyle (AIBL) research group, announced two major findings from his studies.
In the first study, Dr Laws revealed the successful identification of a panel of eight
potential plasma biomarkers for the disease.
The results of the second study found that sex hormone levels, especially
testosterone and luteinizing hormone, correlated with the presence of AD-causing
plasma and cerebral amyloid-beta in the brain, which could lead to new methods of
diagnosis and treatment.
Dr Laws says the identification and validation of a short panel of biomarkers has
significant implications for the future diagnosis, prediction and monitoring of AD.
"The close association of hormones with AD pathology has significant implications on
future treatments of the disease, with a clinical trial being the next stage in assessing
the efficacy of this approach," says Dr Laws.
The second team, led by Dr Ashley Bush of the Department of Pathology and Mental
Health Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, sought to explore how
impairments to the brain's ability to export concentrations of transition metals like
zinc, copper and iron correlate with the presence and formation of plaques, which
could provide pathologists with new methods of diagnosis and treatment of AD.
"The brain utilises these metals for specialised neurochemistry and the synthesis of
heme," says Dr Bush.
"But it is in this high flux environment that several of the culprit proteins of AD
accumulate, losing function and possibly becoming toxic. These include amyloidbeta, which build up outside of the cell forming plaques and tau, which concentrate
inside the brain cells forming tangles. Both pathologies capture high concentrations
of metal ions."
The levels of these ions in the brain rise with aging and rise even more as the
symptoms of AD set in. The abnormal regulation of metals in the brain is key to the
formation of AD-causing plaques and tau.
"These recent discoveries concerning the metal-centred neuropathology of AD are
the target for a new class of drugs which have shown considerable promise in clinical
trials. These abnormalities are also reflected in the periphery in AD and may be the
basis for predictive biomarkers," says Dr Bush.
Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia
The RCPA is the leading organisation representing pathologists in Australasia. Its
mission is to train and support pathologists and to improve the use of pathology
testing to achieve better healthcare.
For more information on Pathology Update, visit
http://www.rcpa.edu.au/Continuing/PathologyUpdate/PathologyUpdate2012
END
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Dr Debra Graves
CEO – RCPA
0417 218 528
debrag@rcpa.edu.au
or
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S2i Communications
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jade@s2i.com.au
Lyn: 0404 163 131
lyn@s2i.com.au