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EDMONTON, Canada/Washington, USA: The World Health Organization estimates that worldwide 47.5 million people have dementia, of which Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause. Yet, the disease is usually diagnosed only at a fairly late stage and diagnosis techniques can be costly and invasive. Now, a study has provided new evidence that saliva, an easily obtained body fluid, could be used to detect changes related to Alzheimer's.
Lead researcher Shraddha Sapkota, a neuroscience graduate student at the University of Alberta, reported that the study showed a strong association between certain substances in a person's saliva and his or her cognitive abilities.
Participants in the study were divided into three groups: patients with Alzheimer's disease (seven), those with mild cognitive impairment (ten) and controls with normal cognitive aging (ten). Analysis of salivary specimens found that higher levels of certain metabolites in the Alzheimer's and cognitive impairment group predicted worse episodic memory performance compared with the control group. Higher levels of other metabolites also predicted slower speed in processing information, the researchers stated.
"Saliva is easily obtained, safe and affordable, and has promising potential for predicting and tracking cognitive decline, but we're in the very early stages of this work and much more research is needed," said Sapkota. "Equally important is the possibility of using saliva to find targets for treatment to address the metabolic component of Alzheimer's, which is still not well understood. This study brings us closer to solving that mystery."
The study was carried out as part of the University of Albert's Victoria Longitudinal Study, a long-term, large-scale and multi-faceted investigation of human aging that aims to investigate actual changes, variations and interactions among numerous aspects of neurocognitive aging and influences on aging changes.
Sapkota presented the findings of the study, titled "Metabolomics Analyses of Salivary Samples Discriminate Normal Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease Group and Produce Biomarkers Predictive of Neurocognitive Performance," at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. The meeting is the world's largest gathering of researchers from around the world focused on Alzheimer's and other dementias. The 2015 conference is currently being held in Washington and runs until July 23.
From http://www.dental-tribune.com
