Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease: Evaluation of platelets, hemoglobin and vitamin B12

Abstract

Currently, the most likely hypotheses as the cause of Alzheimer’s disease are deposition of amyloid beta peptide in the cerebral cortex and hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein. The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is based on the exclusion of other diseases, behavioral assessments, and blood and imaging tests. Biotechnology has created interesting perspectives for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease through blood analysis, with special attention to platelets, hemoglobin and vitamin B12. Objective: To evaluate the concentrations of platelets, hemoglobin and vitamin B12 in the blood of older adults with and without dementia of Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: A case-control study involving 120 individuals was conducted, seeking to establish a correlation between changes in platelet, hemoglobin and vitamin B12 concentrations in patients with confirmed AD and in individuals in the inclusion group without AD. The study met the established ethical requirements. Results: Hemoglobin and platelet levels were statistically lower in patients with AD. The biochemical evaluation in AD patient and healthy groups for vitamin B12 showed a decrease in the levels of this compound in patients with AD. Conclusion: We demonstrated the feasibility of the use of blood biomarkers as predictive markers for the diagnosis of AD.

Association Between the Alterations in the Blood Routine Check Parameters and Cognitive Impairment in the Shenzhen Ageing-related Disorder Cohort in China

“…A recent study identi ed the essential functions of the APP family with regard to normal hippocampal function and circuits during development [13]. One study showed that the platelet level was statistically lower in patients with AD, which is consistent with our ndings [9]. Some studies have also shown that platelets can accumulate and release neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, glutamate, and dopamine.…”

“…Platelets play important roles in neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, and psychiatric diseases, and have been widely used as a peripheral model to study the molecular mechanisms of AD [8,9]. Platelets are the primary source of circulating amyloid precursor protein (APP), and APP may represent the major source of Aβ (the cleavage product of APP) detected in the whole blood [10].…”

Blood-Based Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis and Progression: An Overview

“…When using machine learning approaches, the concomitant findings of reduced blood levels of folic acid and vitamin D were confirmed to be predictive of worse MMSE scores (that is, a more pronounced cognitive impairment), thus suggesting a possible link with disease severity [ 343 ]. Moreover, diminished levels of circulating vitamin B 12 in patients with AD were reported in another recent case-control study [ 344 ]. Interestingly, vitamin B 12 and total tau plasma levels were inversely related in a longitudinal study, thus confirming the correlation between vitamins and AD pathogenesis [ 345 ].…”

“…Hypovitaminosis is implicated in the pathogenesis of various disorders [ 334 , 335 ], and there is increasing evidence that vitamins also play a key role in neurodegenerative diseases, leading to hypotheses concerning their use as disease biomarkers [ 336 , 337 ]. Regarding AD, although preliminary data are certainly encouraging, and the role of vitamins as biomarkers for AD has been widely investigated in literature ( Table 3 ) [ 188 , 297 , 338 , 339 , 340 , 341 , 342 , 343 , 344 , 345 , 346 , 347 , 348 , 349 , 350 , 351 ], some limitations in terms of consistency, reproducibility, and specificity remain to be solved, and further research is needed before hypothesizing a clinical application.…”

Consumo alimentar de idosos com doença de Alzheimer

“…Esse grupo alimentar, pode ser inserido na alimentação por meio de diferentes técnicas dietéticas, podendo ser melhor aceito por esses pacientes. Carnes vermelhas é uma boa fonte de vitamina B12 -idosos podem encontrar-se com diminuição na absorção dessa vitamina pela interação fármaco-nutriente e acloridria, por exemplo, além da sua relação com alterações neurológicas e o desenvolvimento de demência e DA, quando em níveis deficientes (BOSTON et al, 2020;SANTOS;PARDI, 2020). E, os peixes, principalmente aqueles de águas frias e profundas, possuem boa quantidade de ácido docosaexaenoico (DHA) (CHIU; VENKATAKRISHNAN;WANG, 2020;TOMASZEWSKI et al, 2020, XIE et al, 2020, importante por reduzir o risco de demência atuando na redução da inflamação a nível celular (RAJI et al, 2014).…”