Innate memory-related blood biomarkers in AD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Innate memory-related blood Biomarkers as a proxy of microglia-mediated neurodegeneration to predict early AD progression (ADIMB)
IRAS ID
286656
Contact name
Paul Edison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College Research Governance and Integrity Team
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 3 days
Research summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, characterised by an irreversible and progressive loss of global cognitive function. Currently, there is no effective treatment option for AD, potentially due to the fact that an AD diagnosis is based on symptoms developed because of irreversible neuronal damage, thus too late for efficacious intervention.
There are many factors that may contribute to an increased risk of developing AD. Recent studies suggest that inflammation in the brain, influenced by peripheral inflammatory conditions, is a main driver of this disease. The present research project will focus on patients with early AD and is addressed to evaluate changes in blood immune cells that are related to brain inflammation, early neuronal damage and severity of early symptoms.
The aim of this project is to study AD patients at early disease stages in order to assess their blood levels of dendritic cells (DCs) as an index of cell recruitment to brain and define the innate memory (IM) status of their DCs in terms of enhanced inflammatory cytokine recall responses and epigenetic modifications following in vitro stimulations. The identified peripheral immune changes will be related to microglial activation, amyloid load and symptomatology to identify new peripheral biomarkers potentially helpful for diagnosis and disease progression tracking. The result will be useful in making clinical trials more rigorous and affordable, will accelerate drug development and will improve clinical care by providing access to accurate diagnoses.REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0249
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion