Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease Based on Disease-Specific Autoantibody Profiles in Human Sera
2011

Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease with Blood Tests

Sample size: 149 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Nagele Eric, Han Min, DeMarshall Cassandra, Belinka Benjamin, Nagele Robert

Primary Institution: Durin Technologies, Inc.

Hypothesis

Can serum autoantibody profiles be used as diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease?

Conclusion

The study found that specific serum autoantibodies can accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease with high sensitivity and specificity.

Supporting Evidence

  • The study identified 10 autoantibody biomarkers that differentiate Alzheimer's disease from non-demented controls with 96% sensitivity.
  • These biomarkers also distinguished Alzheimer's disease from other conditions like Parkinson's disease and breast cancer.
  • Random Forest analysis showed over 93% accuracy in classifying samples using the selected biomarkers.

Takeaway

Doctors can use a simple blood test to check for certain proteins that help tell if someone has Alzheimer's disease.

Methodology

The study used human protein microarrays to analyze serum samples for autoantibody expression profiles.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to the reliance on clinical evaluations for Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Limitations

The study's sample size may not fully represent the broader population, and results need further validation with more samples.

Participant Demographics

Participants included 50 Alzheimer's disease subjects and 40 non-demented controls, with varying ages and MMSE scores.

Statistical Information

P-Value

8.03E-14

Statistical Significance

p<0.01

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0023112

Want to read the original?

Access the complete publication on the publisher's website

View Original Publication