Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed by blood test

Pharmacist Blanca Acha Santamaria described how certain changes in DNA methylation could be used as potential “less invasive and more accessible” tools to detect Alzheimer’s disease from a blood sample. This progress may allow “earlier and more accurate” detection It is a neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects memory and other cognitive functions.

This is reflected in his doctoral thesis defended at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA) and developed at Navarrabiomed, a biomedical research center of the regional executive and academic institution.

Blood sample at the Zaidin experimental station. Source: DISCOVER FUND

DNA methylation is a biological process that acts as a control mechanism for our genes.. This process combines a small chemical group (a methyl group) with a specific part of the DNA, which can activate or deactivate gene expression and thus affect the normal functioning of cells, UPNA explained in a press release. .

Blanca Acha has identified distinct changes in DNA methylation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease compared to healthy controls, so the use of DNA methylation biomarkers in peripheral blood is postulated as “a promising tool for improving the diagnostic accuracy of this condition in panel studies.” peripheral biomarkers,” says the researcher. Except, Their findings highlight the importance of gender-sensitive research in the search for new diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease..

Learn more about Alzheimer’s disease

Besides, These results “support the possible involvement of DNA methylation in Alzheimer’s disease pathology.”points out Blanca Acha, whose dissertation was written by Maite Mendioros Iriarte and Idoya Blanco Lukin, researchers in the Department of Neuroepigenetics at Navarrabiomed, under the supervision of Ignacio Encio Martinez, professor in the Department of Health Sciences at UPNA.

To complete a doctoral dissertation Blanca Acha has been awarded a contract for pre-doctoral training in medical research.funded by the Carlos III Research Institute, an organization that also provided a grant at the request of the Foundation for Medical Research (FIS) to the neuroepigenetics group where the doctoral thesis was developed.

Thus, he was able to complete a pre-doctoral fellowship in the memory department of the neurology service. Memory Unit of the Neurology Service of the Santa Creu and Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona.

Blanca Acha graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Salamanca, is a medical specialist in clinical analysis and a member of the Neuroepigenetics Research Unit of Navarrabiomed. During his research career, he has participated in four research projects and presented 44 papers at national and international conferences in the fields of clinical laboratory and neuroscience.

Blanca Acha Santamaria, dissertation author. Source: Europe Press

In addition, she has published thirteen articles in national and international journals in the fields of clinical laboratory and neuroscience and has authored two book chapters. Laboratory Medicine Guide for Primary Health Care And Neurodegenerative and prion diseases. Importance of Lab Report.