Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Can Accelerate Down Syndrome Treatment

Pathological biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease found in high levels in the brain tissue of patients with Down syndrome can aid in the development of early therapeutics as per a study published in Molecular Neurodegeneration.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by the formation of beta-amyloid plaques and the tau proteins in the brain tissue. People with Down syndrome (DS) have delayed physical and mental developmental due to a genetic defect called trisomy 21 – an extra copy of chromosome 21. It is the gene responsible for the production of amyloid protein that explains why patients with Down's syndrome have higher chances to acquire Alzheimer’s disease.

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‘High levels of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers– Tau and amyloid, discovered in the brain tissue of patients with Down syndrome can aid in the development of early therapeutics. This would offer a better understanding of the cognitive deficits thereby improving their quality of life. ’

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"Previous studies of Down's syndrome by our group and others have been able to demonstrate that pathological forms of amyloid and tau can appear years before someone shows signs of dementia," says Lotta Granholm, professor at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Denver, and one of the paper's principal authors.

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The research team compared the brain tissue of individuals having Down syndrome with or without AD and also of Alzheimer’s patients without other disabilities.

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Down syndrome also known as Trisomy 21 is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome leads to impairments in cognitive ability and physical growth of the child.

Analysis of binding capacity of two Tau PET tracers (3H-MK6240 and 3H-THK5117) and one amyloid (3H-PIB) ligand were done in specific brain areas – medial frontal gyrus (MFG) and hippocampus (HIPP).

It was noted that " apart from a high level of tau, we also measured a different regional distribution of tau in the brains of people with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease compared to the control group," the paper's first author Laetitia Lemoine, assistant professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.

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The findings highlighted the different amyloid and Tau pathologies via their binding properties in the adult and fetus brain of Down Syndrome. This necessitates the brain imaging of the individuals with Down syndrome for a better understanding of the cognitive deficits and improving their quality of life.

Source-Medindia

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