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Review
. 2010 Feb;4(1):15-26.
doi: 10.2217/bmm.09.86.

Biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease: past, present and future

Katarzyna Gustaw-Rothenberg  1 , Alan Lerner, David J Bonda, Hyoung-gon Lee, Xiongwei Zhu, George Perry, Mark A Smith
Affiliations
Review

Biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease: past, present and future

Katarzyna Gustaw-Rothenberg et al. Biomark Med. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Epidemiological and molecular studies suggest that Alzheimer's disease (AD) has multiple etiologies including genetic mutations, genetic variations affecting susceptibility and environmental factors. These aspects can promote the formation and accumulation of insoluble amyloid-beta and hyperphosphorylated tau. Since the disease is multifactorial and clinical diagnosis is highly exclusive, the need for a sensitive, specific and reliable biomarker is crucial. The concept of a biomarker implies sensitivity and specificity relative to the condition being considered. For clinical practice, AD diagnosis has been based on adherence to clinical criteria such as the NINCDS/ADRDA and DSM-IV. A more recent set of diagnostic criteria proposed incorporates imaging findings into the diagnosis of AD. In this article, we consider the most studied candidates or group of candidates for AD biomarkers, including pathological processes and proteins (amyloid-beta, tau, oxidative stress, mitochondrial/metabolic changes and cell-cycle processes), or autoantibodies thereto, as well as genetic factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure: The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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