Developing retinal biomarkers for the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease: What we know, what we don't, and how to move forward
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: The last decade has seen a substantial increase in research focused on the identification, development, and validation of diagnostic and prognostic retinal biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Sensitive retinal biomarkers may be advantageous because they are cost and time efficient, non-invasive, and present a minimal degree of patient risk and a high degree of accessibility. Much of the work in this area thus far has focused on distinguishing between symptomatic AD and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitively normal older adults. Minimal work has been done on the detection of preclinical AD, the earliest stage of AD pathogenesis characterized by the accumulation of cerebral amyloid absent clinical symptoms of MCI or dementia. The following review examines retinal structural changes, proteinopathies, and vascular alterations that have been proposed as potential AD biomarkers, with a focus on studies examining the earliest stages of disease pathogenesis. In addition, we present recommendations for future research to move beyond the discovery phase and toward validation of AD risk biomarkers that could potentially be used as a first step in a multistep screening process for AD risk detection.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
DOI: 10.1002/alz.12006
Institutions: University of Rhode Island, Brown University, Butler Hospital, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, University of Miami, Western Eye Hospital, University College London, Imperial College London, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Universidade de São Paulo, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Washington University in St. Louis, BayCare Health System
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2999293301