Alzheimer's disease (AD) has no complete cure at the moment, however, some treatments have been proven to delay its progression. A timely diagnosis must be obtained to give the patient early therapeutic intervention and provide the best quality of life.
Researchers in Korea’s Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, published a study in Scientific Reports, demonstrating a novel way of diagnosing AD by collecting and analyzing specific proteins in nasal discharge samples.
Professor Cheil Moon, who led the study, said, "In 2017, we found that olfactory dysfunction occurred in the early stages of AD in mice and suggested that the cause of the symptoms was induced by soluble species of amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomer accumulations in the peripheral olfactory system. We hypothesized that soluble Aβ oligomers could be detectable in nasal discharge and that they may be a useful parameter to monitor disease progression." The researchers gathered and compared nasal discharge samples from 39 patients with AD and 21 people from an age-matched control group.
The study showed that the levels of two particular Aβ oligomers (the aggregated forms of Aβ implicated as characteristic of Alzheimer's) were consistently higher in patients from the AD group. Additionally, the levels of the "soluble" form of this protein could be used to separate healthy subjects from patients with AD and predict the onset and progression of AD over three years.
Prof Moon remarks, "Routine nasal discharge screenings would be a better option to screen for AD because of its various advantages, such as its relatively low cost and non-invasive nature. The results of our study introduce a novel and simple approach to assess AD progression."