Discovery and confirmation of novel serum biomarkers diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease

Authors

Tyler Mower, Brigham Young University
Dr. John Kauwe, Brigham Young University

Keywords

serum biomarkers, Alzheimer's disease, AD biomarkers

College

Life Sciences

Department

Biology

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains challenging to diagnose, especially early disease. Useful serum AD biomarkers would be of great utility in clinical settings and in drug development efforts. We used a novel serum proteomic approach to interrogate the lowmolecular- weight proteome for AD biomarkers.

Experimental design: A discovery study used sera from 58 any-stage AD cases and 55 controls analyzed by capillary liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Promising biomarkers were retested in a second, blinded confirmatory study (AD cases=68, controls=57). Several biomarkers replicated and multi-marker sets were modeled.

Results: The initial study found 59 potential AD biomarkers. Thirteen recurred in more than one multi-marker panel. In the blinded, confirmatory study, these 13 biomarkers were retested in separate specimens. Four markers validated comparing controls to patients with any-stage or very early AD.

Conclusions: We identified 4 serum biomarkers with replicable ability to diagnose AD. These results suggest the utility of this approach.

Recommended Citation

Mower, Tyler and Kauwe, Dr. John (2015) "Discovery and confirmation of novel serum biomarkers diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2015: Iss. 1, Article 113.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2015/iss1/113