MicroRNAs circulate around Alzheimer's disease

A select group of microRNAs identified in blood samples can differentiate between Alzheimer''s disease, other neurological disorders and age-matched healthy controls with high accuracy.Please see related Research article, http://genomebiology.com/2013/14/7/R78Millions of people suffer from Alzheimer''s disease (AD) every year, and the number of afflicted individuals is expected to increase drastically worldwide as the elderly population expands. AD is the most common form of dementia and often onsets after age 65. Currently, analysis of cerebrospinal fluid proteins, such as Aβ42, tau and p-tau, can only truly indicate a confirmation of AD diagnosis based on a clinical suspicion, or as a differential diagnosis from other neurological diseases that cause dementia-like symptoms. Thus, the search to find early-stage biomarkers of this disease is of utmost importance.Recently, blood-based biomarkers for AD have been proposed as attractive diagnostic tools, as they are non-invasive, highly specific and sensitive, and can be isolated with standard laboratory equipment. A number of studies have identified such blood-based AD biomarkers and demonstrated promising results. For example, one study reported a panel of three blood markers (cortisol, von Willebrand factor and oxidized low-density lipoprotein antibodies) that distinguished AD patients from healthy controls 1], while another group identified 18 proteins in blood plasma that could differentiate AD patients from controls with clinically relevant accuracy, sensitivity and specificity 2].