Alzheimer's discovery unveiled by Arizona-led team
Summary:
A national team of researchers, led by Dr. Eric Reiman of Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, has brought the medical world a step closer to early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Their method could allow early tracking and detection of disease-related brain changes, a potential aid to the development of better, more precisely targeted drugs and therapies.
Full Story:
A national team of researchers, led by Dr. Eric Reiman of Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, has brought the medical world a step closer to early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The team is developing a technique for using PET imaging technology to follow the development and onset of Alzheimer's disease. The method could allow unusually early tracking and detection of brain changes related to the disease, and could potentially contribute to the development of better, more precisely targeted drugs and therapies.
In an article published in the December 16 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reiman's team described a relationship between low activity in certain areas of the brain and the presence of the APOE e4 gene, which increases the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's. Brain activity levels were measured using positron emission tomography, or PET.
The study involved measuring brain activity among 27 healthy people in their 20s and 30s.
Dr. Richard Caselli of Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, a researcher in the study, described the advantages of using PET in the Arizona Republic.
"Instead of taking a large group of 30-year-olds and testing their memory for the next 20 years, we could use PET to identify these areas of lowered brain activity and monitor their progress every two years or so," he said. "We could use PET to determine if or when the disease would start and how quickly it progresses."
The study was funded by the Alzheimer's Association, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the state of Arizona. It included researchers from Good Samaritan; the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and Jacksonville, Fla.; Arizona State University; University of Arizona; Duke University; the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen); and the Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Consortium (ADC).
"We are excited about the roles PET could play in the unusually early tracking and detection of brain changes involved in the susceptibility of Alzheimer's disease and how this information could help in the effort to identify and way of preventing this devastating disorder," said Reiman, quoted in the Republic.
A related study, also being led by Reiman, recently received a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health. The grant extends the study beyond its original five years. The study also involves ASU and ADC researchers.
The study compares PET and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans of three groups of individuals: those with no copies of the APOE e4 gene; those with one copy; and those with two. When finished, researchers will have nine years worth of data.
The ASU team is lead by Associate Professor of Psychology Gene Alexander, and includes Psychology Professors Leona Aiken and Steve West. The ADC researchers are from ASU, Banner Good Samaritan, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, and UA.
Reiman, the scientific director of Good Samaritan's PET Center, also has appointments at ASU, UA, TGen, and is director of the ADC.
For more information:
"Brain imaging aids researchers' understanding of Alzheimer's," ASU News, 12/15/2003
"Researchers advance Alzheimer's detection," Arizona Republic, 12/16/2003
"Changes linked to Alzheimer's examined," USA Today, 12/16/2003