Alzheimer's: predicting the onset of disease to improve treatment
Predicting the onset of Alzheimer's disease in people with a hereditary form could become possible thanks to a genetic model developed by a team of Belgian researchers at the Brain Research Centre of the Flemish Biotechnology Institute (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research). This scientific advance could lead to earlier diagnosis and more targeted treatments.
Funded by the Stop Alzheimer Foundation, this study is based on genetic model technology, which studies the representation of a gene, its characteristics and its function. These models are used in particular to study gene transmission, the effect of mutations, or to predict the onset of genetic diseases. The team from Professor Lucía Chávez Gutiérrez's laboratory conducting this study looked at the hereditary form of Alzheimer's disease in order to understand how the disease develops.
By examining the mutations present in three genes responsible for the disease: APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2, the scientists were able to determine a link between these mutations and the age at which the first symptoms appear. The study also pinpointed the origin of the disease, which is thought to be linked to an imbalance between the production of Aβ40 and Aβ42. An excess of the Aβ42 protein in the brain leads to the creation of plaques that are toxic to neurons and disrupt brain function. This contributes to memory loss and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. According to Professor Chávez Gutiérrez, this discovery suggests that ‘targeted treatments aimed at restoring this protein balance could slow, or even prevent, the progression of Alzheimer's in its early stages’.
According to the Stop Alzheimer Foundation, this research opens up new hope for ‘stopping Alzheimer's before it even starts’. It also offers an encouraging prospect at a time when a bill currently being debated in the House is considering extending euthanasia to people who have ‘become incapable of expressing their will’, citing the prospect of a ‘tsunami of dementia cases’ in Belgium in the years ahead (see: Extending euthanasia to people who have ‘become incapable of expressing their will’: overview of hearings on a controversial bill).
