Key proteins could predict dementia decade before diagnosis, finds study spanning 14 yrs, 52,000 adults

Researchers from China identified markers that could predict dementia yrs in advance. Findings of study, 1st with both large dataset & 10+ yrs of follow-up, were published in 'Nature Aging'.

Representational photo | Pixabay

Bengaluru: In a first, researchers from China’s Fudan University have identified key proteins in the brain that could predict dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia nearly 10 years before diagnosis. Over 14.1 years, Using the UK’s biomedical database Biobank, researchers analysed data from 52,645 adults who did not have dementia.

There were a total of 1,417 cases of dementia throughout the study, which was published in the journal Nature Aging Monday. Out of a total of 1,463 plasma proteins or blood proteins in the human body, the team found that four — GFAP, NEFL, GDF15, and LTBP2 — were associated with dementia.

Blood proteins are proteins present in blood plasma that serve a variety of functions, including the transport of lipids, hormones, vitamins, and minerals. 

Researchers found that of the four blood proteins associated with dementia, GFAP played a common role in all three disorders.

Earlier studies have attempted to understand the role of plasma proteins as predictors of long-term dementia but had only limited data. This is the first study with both a large dataset and over a decade of follow-up period. 

While the data provides a strong predictive property for the Biobank dataset, the authors stress that this research is yet to be validated in other independent datasets. 

What the study found

The study analysed data from 52,645 adults without dementia when the study began. Participants in the study were aged between 39 and 70 years and were recruited between 2006 and 2010.

The median age of the study group was 58 years, with just over half the participants being female. 

Over the next 14.1 years, 1,417 cases of dementia were identified. Of these, 219 were diagnosed in the first five years, 833 within 10 years, and 584 after a decade. 

The median age of diagnosed participants was 66 years, with just less than half being female. 

According to the study, some 691 patients were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, an advanced form of dementia, 285 patients with vascular dementia, and the rest with all-cause dementia.

Vascular dementia is brain damage caused by multiple strokes while all-cause is the general umbrella term for the illness.

The analysis found that those with high GFAP levels were 2.3 times more likely to develop a form of dementia. 

Researchers found that the combination of high GFAP and LTBP2 plasma proteins was particularly strongly associated with dementia onset. They also found that GFAP and NEFL both started to change nearly a decade before the onset of any form of dementia. 

Study’s implications on early intervention, therapies

There is currently no cure or therapy for dementia, which is a progressively degenerative brain disease resulting in loss of brain function and memory. There are various types of dementia, and all are physically characterised by protein buildup in neurons, preventing effective transmission of neural messages between brain cells. 

Identification of potential biomarkers can help in preventing or slowing the onset of dementia through lifestyle changes, the study showed. According to researchers, these could potentially also be explored for therapies and for treating the brain after a degenerative disease begins to spread. 

“Our findings strongly highlight GFAP as an optimal biomarker for dementia prediction, even more than 10 years before the diagnosis, with implications for screening people at high risk for dementia and for early intervention,“ the authors said in their paper.