The World Health Organization has predicted that the number of individuals 60 years of age and over will increase from 605 million in 2000 to 2 billion in 2050 and that there will be about 400 million people aged 80 and older. Since age is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there will be a consequent increase in the number of sufferers with the associated increase in costs; the current cost of Alzheimer’s care in Ireland is around €400 million per annum. Current treatments for AD are largely ineffective as the disease state has progressed too far by the time the major symptoms, which include memory loss, language deterioration and loss of cognitive function, have presented. Developing a biomarker, that indicates very early changes in cognitive function which may be indicative of developing AD, would permit early intervention and the potential to slow the progression of the disease.
Current biomarkers rely on analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or image analysis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neither of which fulfills the criteria required of the ideal marker which is blood-based, suitable for repeated sampling and for routine use and inexpensive.
We have previously identified a potential biomarker of cognitive decline by evaluating the effect of plasma from a group with cognitive decline compared with a control group. The aim of this study is to assess the reproducibility of this marker in samples prepared from a new cohort.
