Blood Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Implications for the Clinical Neurologist

blood-based biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and frontotemporal dementia, are a growing health concern worldwide, and their diagnosis and management are still challenging. However, recent advances in blood-based biomarkers offer new opportunities for clinical evaluation and monitoring of these diseases. In this review article, entitled “Blood Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Implications for the … Read more

Amyloid precursor protein βCTF accumulates in synapses in sporadic and genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease

Amyloid precursor protein βCTF accumulates in synapses in sporadic and genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease

Amyloid precursor protein βCTF accumulates in synapses in sporadic and genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease The main pathological features observed in a brain with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are the accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides in the form of plaques and the aggregation of phosphorylated tau protein. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) can be processed via the amyloidogenic … Read more

Bilingual Factors Associated with Cognitive Reserve and Linguistic Resilience in Hispanics with Primary Progressive Aphasia

bilingual factors - Sant Pau Memory Unit

Bilingual Factors Associated with Cognitive Reserve and Linguistic Resilience in Hispanics with Primary Progressive Aphasia Recent studies demonstrate that being bilingual can delay the onset of dementia by an average of 4-5 years. Stephanie Grasso (University of Texas at Austin) & Miguel Ángel Santos-Santos (Memory Unit at Hospital Sant Pau) received a R01 grant (clinical … Read more

Enrichment of plasma-derived extracellular vesicles from astrocytes

Enrichment of plasma-derived extracellular vesicles from astrocytes Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoparticles that are secreted by all cells in the body. EVs carries multiple cellular components, such as genetic material, proteins and lipid metabolites that often reflect the content of their cell of origin. They are involved in a wide range of functions by acting … Read more

Myelin loss in C9orf72 hexanucleotide expansion carriers

Myelin loss in C9orf72 hexanucleotide expansion carriers   The expansion of the intronic GGGGCC repeat (G4C2) in the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic cause of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and in the continuum of FTD/ALS. Three pathological mechanisms associated with the presence of this genetic alteration have been described: a … Read more

The link between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome

Association of Alzheimer Disease With Life Expectancy in People With Down Syndrome

The link between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome People with Down syndrome are genetically predisposed to developing Alzheimer´s disease. The strong association between Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome has a genetic basis through a gene-dose effect of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene located on chromosome 21, which is triplicated in this population. Consequently, neuropathologic changes associated with … Read more