New blood test to identify people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s symptoms

BOSTON — A new blood test can be used to identify people with an increased likelihood of having a protein that’s a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s symptoms.

The research was presented Thursday at the international Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference in Boston.

According to researchers, the blood test called PrecivityAD is 81% accurate in predicting the level of the protein amyloid on a PET scan, which is a traditional method to determine build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain, in people who do not show symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

The new test will be used in a clinical trial aiming to prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease—called the AHEAD Study—that is enrolling people as young as 55.

“Blood-based screening is a giant leap forward in detecting changes in the brain among people who do not yet show memory loss symptoms,” said Reisa Sperling, MD, director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and co-principal investigator for the AHEAD Study. “New blood test technology can help identify those more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease changes in their brains, which enables them to enroll in prevention or treatment trials as early as possible. This is a remarkable achievement that may lead to detecting and treating Alzheimer’s much earlier, and hopefully one day, preventing the memory loss associated with this devastating disease.”

Results presented at Boston conference show the blood test identifies specific amyloid proteins in blood plasma and is a promising way to test someone’s likelihood of having amyloid build-up in the brain.

Researchers say screening blood tests should greatly speed up clinical trial enrollment, a long and expensive process.

Another goal for the AHEAD Study is to recruit a diverse population of participants. “We also hope that this new test will make it easier for people from diverse backgrounds, especially people of color, to learn if they might be right for the study by starting with this simple blood test,” said Dr. Sperling.

More information about study locations and eligibility requirements can be found at AHEADstudy.org.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2021 Cox Media Group