Alzheimer's disease early lesions identified with new MRI method

Alzheimer's disease is usually diagnosed based on symptoms, such as when a person shows signs of memory loss and difficulty thinking

But new research from a mathematical analysis of data at Washington University School of Medicine in St.

"This could be a new way to use MRI to diagnose Alzheimer's patients before they develop symptoms," said senior author Dr Dmitriy Yablonskiy, professor of radiology at the University's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology

The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, relied on a new quantitative gradient echo (qGRE) MRI technique developed in the Jablonsky lab to show that the loss of healthy neurons does not occur due to the loss of healthy neurons.

"Using this technique in Alzheimer's patients, we found that brain regions that look normal on conventional MRI but look dark on qGRE images, we attribute important neurodegeneration," said Satya v.

Whereas traditional MRI is able to show volume reduction in damaged areas of the brain, qGRE technology goes a step further, detecting neuronal loss that precedes brain atrophy and cognitive decline

Alzheimer's develops slowly for 20 or more years before symptoms appear

The study involved 70 people between the ages of 60 and 90 who were recruited by the Charles F.

Each participant underwent a PET brain scan or spinal cord aspiration to measure the amount of amyloid plaques in his or her brain

The researchers applied qGRE MRI to scan the hippocampus, the brain's memory center and one of the first brain regions affected by Alzheimer's

These dark matter regions appear in people who test positive for amyloid but have not yet developed symptoms, and they get larger as the disease progresses

The study builds on and confirms the findings of a University of Washington study on Alzheimer's disease more than 20 years ago

In 2001, the John C.

Afterwards, in the early 2000s, Tammy L.

In the current study, also co-authored by Morris and Bensinger, the researchers used the non-invasive qGRE MRI technique to document the same relationship between neuronal loss and Alzheimer's symptoms in living patients

The research team, in collaboration with Richard Perrin, MD, Ph.
D.
, associate professor of pathology and immunology, confirmed this under the microscope by examining brain tissue donated after the death of a study participant relationship
.
Autopsies revealed that the loss of hippocampal neurons actually exceeded the loss of tissue volume, and these changes were well reflected in MRI measurements of dark matter
.

Yablonskiy and his colleagues were looking for a low-cost, convenient way to test for Alzheimer's as an alternative to expensive PET brain scans and invasive spinal taps
.
Currently in research, PET brain scans and invasive spinal taps are used to assess the presence and progression of Alzheimer's
.

Such a test, especially one that can identify patients in the early stages of the disease, would greatly advance Alzheimer's research, slashing the cost and time needed to screen patients for clinical trials, thereby promoting Development of new treatments
.

Although Alzheimer's researchers continue to seek drug treatment, most agree that successful treatment depends on early detection and finding ways to prevent brain damage before Alzheimer's later stages
.

While PET scans and spinal taps still play an important role in Alzheimer's research, both have limitations and cannot be widely used to screen for early signs of Alzheimer's
.

PET brain scans remain the gold standard for detecting Alzheimer's symptoms, but such machines are expensive and rarely used for routine patient diagnosis, let alone extensive clinical screening
.
PET scans also require an injection of a radiotracer to image the brain
.

As Alzheimer's disease progresses, it can be detected by testing for tau protein in the cerebrospinal fluid, but sampling requires a spinal tap, which may be too invasive as a routine screening tool, especially for those without symptoms
.

Another promising Alzheimer's screening method -- also in development at the University of Washington -- is a non-invasive, relatively inexpensive blood test that has been shown to detect Alzheimer's Very accurate in terms of early signs of schizophrenia
.
A commercial version of this blood test has recently been available to doctors in the United States and Europe, but it is not yet covered by Medicare
.

While each detection method has its own advantages and disadvantages, qGRE MRI technology is likely to be adopted early because it is based on the widely used MRI technology around the world, is non-invasive and can be performed without the use of radiotracers
.

"Our qGRE test offers great potential as an early diagnostic tool in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease, thereby providing a large window for therapeutic intervention," Yablonskiy said
.
"As a non-invasive MRI technique, It also has great potential in routine clinical settings, where clinical drug trials in early Alzheimer's patients are necessary
.
"