An oxidation-antioxidant imbalance in the blood might not be caused by Alzheimer’s, reseachers at Québec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique said. Instead, it may be an early indicator of the disease.
Ph.D student Mohamed Raâfet Ben Khedher and postdoctoral researcher Mohamed Haddad showed that “oxidative markers, known to be involved in Alzheimer’s disease, show an increase up to five years before the onset of the disease. The results of this study, published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (DADM) journal, suggest that oxidation may be an early marker of this disease,” the institute wrote.
Professor Charles Ramassamy, who oversaw the research, said: “Given that there is an increase in oxidative stress in people who develop the disease, we may regulate the antioxidant systems. For example, we could modulate the antioxidant systems, such as apolipoproteins J and D, which transport lipids and cholesterol in the blood and play an important role in brain function and Alzheimer’s disease. Another avenue would be to increase the intake of antioxidants through nutrition.”
The research team stated the markers they discovered can be detected by a simple blood test instead of the invasive — and expensive — procedures now in place. The markers, they wrote, are found in plasma extracellular vesicles, which are pockets released by all cells in the body, including those in the brain.
The research team focused on “sporadic” Alzheimer’s, the most common form of the disease.
“By identifying oxidative markers in the blood of individuals at risk five years before the onset of the disease, we could make recommendations to slow the onset of the disease and limit the risks,” the scientists wrote.
Once Alzheimer’s symptoms appear, they noted, the disease is nearly impossible to reverse.
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