Can an Antibody Allele Boost Your Alzheimer’s Risk By Giving Herpes an Edge?
Homozygous carriers of GM17—a common IgG1 variant the HSV-1 virus has evolved to evade—had quadruple the risk of developing AD. In a small Swedish cohort, that is.
NEWS
Lancet Commission’s Dementia Hit List Adds Alcohol, Pollution, TBI
In updating their broad evaluation of the risk literature, the commission blamed three more modifiable factors for causing 6 percent of all dementia, concluding that 40 percent of cases can be prevented.
IDEAS Finds Small Drop in Hospitalizations, Missing Goal
A slight drop in hospital admissions after amyloid PET, especially in people with positive scans, fell well short of the prespecified endpoint. Still, IDEAS is broadening into a research platform, and IDEAS 2 will add racial diversity.
Doubling Down on Sequencing Serves up More Alzheimer’s Genes
New genetic variants emerged by harmonizing whole-exome-sequencing data across continents, and by using imputation to plumb the depths of existing GWAS. One variant encodes a microglial phospholipid transporter.
Paper Alert: Those PIGs! Spatial Transcriptomics Add Human Data
In the Alzheimer’s brain, too, plaques trigger a coordinated inflammatory response from microglia and astrocytes. A preprint paper had shown the same for mice.
Could Common Vaccines Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease?
In large population datasets, people who had been vaccinated against influenza or pneumonia appeared less likely to develop AD.
Plasma p-Tau217 Set to Transform Alzheimer’s Diagnostics
This early marker distinguishes Alzheimer’s from controls and other neurodegenerative diseases more accurately than other biomarkers.
In APP Knock-In Mice, Spatial Mapping Circuitry Crumbles
Poor coordination among grid cells in the entorhinal cortex and place cells in the hippocampus compromises navigation. Grid cells fail first.
Virtual Exhibit Hall
Alzforum encourages users to visit the Virtual Exhibit Hall, where companies showcase their newest initiatives, products, and services. We welcome F. Hoffmann-La Roche, joining our other exhibitors — Biogen, BioLegend, Dash Genomics, Inc., Abcam, BrainXell, and the Jackson Laboratory.
SPOTLIGHT
Finally: The Alzheimer’s Blood Test We’ve Always Wanted?
In two new papers and several presentations at this year’s AAIC, researchers describe how p-tau217 in the plasma distinguishes people with Alzheimer’s disease from healthy controls and from people with related disorders. The test posts a stunning degree of accuracy and boasts a comfortable dynamic range. Plasma p-tau217 levels, which seem specific for people who have just begun to deposit amyloid plaques, begin to rise two decades before symptoms or appreciable neurofibrillary tangles. Will this test transform Alzheimer’s research, drug development, and care?
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