Spectrochemical diagnosis of patients with AD_vs8
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Spectrochemical interrogation of oral buccal mucosal cells for the diagnosis of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
IRAS ID
261812
Contact name
StJohn Crean
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Central Lancashire
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Research Summary
With increasing age being the greatest risk factor, and the general ageing of the world’s population, a higher prevalence of dementing disorders is inevitable. Estimates of dementia prevalence have shown that 46.8 million people live with this condition worldwide and this is expected to reach 75 million by 2030. Currently there is neither a disease-modifying therapy nor a definitive diagnostic test that would allow for an early detection. The huge amount of research focused in the study of dementia and its underlying mechanisms has shown limited success in accurately diagnosing and treating the disorder, which clearly denotes its complex, multifactorial nature.
Spectroscopic technologies, such as Raman and infrared, are being increasingly used for the study of various complex diseases. A great advantage of bio-spectroscopy over other molecular methods is that the former investigates many biomolecules simultaneously, such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, which is of huge importance when dealing with multifactorial diseases. Previous studies employing these techniques have been proven to be cost-effective in the diagnosis of dementia.
Participants will be identified after attending the Central Lancashire Memory Assessment Service, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust with a probable diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Spouses, family members or carers escorting the patients will also be approached to enquire whether they are willing to donate buccal mucosal cells and serve as the study's controls.
We expect changes related to dementia to be reflected in the buccal mucosal cells, previously shown to reflect changes in the brain and have been studied as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer's.
Our objective is to accurately detect individuals with Alzheimer’s disease using oral buccal mucosal cells. We will seek to determine the efficiency of infrared and Raman spectroscopy in diagnosing the disease.
The study will last for 1 year during which oral buccal cells will be collected from eligible participants and analysed.Summary of Results
As general aging increases, the prevalence of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, is anticipated to triple by 2050, posing significant socio-economic challenges. Existing biomarkers for Alzheimer’s have limitations, especially in early stages, and current diagnostic methods involve invasive procedures or expensive imaging techniques. Developing a rapid, cost-effective, and non-invasive test is crucial for the early identification of individuals requiring further assessment. Oral cavity-derived samples like saliva and buccal mucosal cells are promising biomarker sources due to their correlation with peripheral changes in Alzheimer’s. In this study, we explored the potential of attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for Alzheimer’s using buccal cells. The analysis, coupled with machine learning algorithms, achieved a 76% sensitivity and 100% specificity (AUC: 88%) in distinguishing Alzheimer’s patients from age-matched healthy controls. Our findings demonstrate that spectroscopic analysis of buccal cells has the potential to detect Alzheimer’s disease with high diagnostic precision, offering a non-invasive and cost-effective alternative to current invasive procedures. Early diagnosis through such a test may impact disease progression by enabling timely intervention.
REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0603
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion