Development and validation of blood biomarkers for the detection of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.
Description: Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting almost half of Canadians over 85 years of age. With the aging of the population, the prevalence of dementia is expected to increase dramatically, which will entail major social and economic costs. There is a crucial need to find non-invasive and low-cost tools that can identify individuals with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (cognitively normal individuals with Alzheimer's disease pathology), as they are the ones most likely to benefit from preventive interventions. The main objective of this proposal is to assess the validity of amyloid and tau blood (plasma) biomarkers in identifying cognitively normal individuals with a family history of Alzheimer's dementia that have Alzheimer's disease pathology confirmed by a brain scan. Blood markers of amyloid and tau, the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, will be validated in a cohort of 385 individuals. We will first compare these blood markers to other well-known brain markers of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Then, we will test if they track memory decline over time when used alone or combined with other behavioral and physiological information. Blood and behavioral markers could facilitate the identification of individuals with preclinical Alzheimer's disease. These individuals are the targeted candidate for preventive trails.
Amount: CA$711,500
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Project Grant
Start date: 2021-10-01
End date: 2025-09-30
Investigator: Sylvia Villeneuve
Institution: Douglas Mental Health University Institute (Montreal, QC)
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 178385_1
OpenAlex ID: G8979009390