Biomarkers for Alzheimer Disease: Classical and Novel Candidates' Review

Abstract

The biomarkers may be useful for predictive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The current challenge is to diagnose it in its preclinical phase. The combination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and imaging has been investigated extensively for a number of years. It can provide an increased diagnostic accuracy. This review discusses the contribution of classical biomarkers to predict AD and highlights novel candidates identified as potential markers for AD. We referred to the electronic databases PubMed/Medline and Web of Science to search for articles that were published until February 2016. Sixty-two records were included in qualitative synthesis. In the first section, the results show the contribution of biomarkers to predict and track AD considered as classical biomarkers. In the second section, the results highlight the involvement of novel candidates that should be considered for future evaluation in the characterization of the AD progression. Reported findings open prospect to define noninvasive biomarkers to predict AD before symptoms onset.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; biomarkers; diagnosis.