A simple eye test monitoring the death of cells on the retina could move scientists closer to being able to monitor the progress of Alzheimer’s disease in humans according to research published yesterday.
The study, which appears in Cell Death & Disease, used specific dyes that bind to cells on the retinas of animals that had been modified to develop some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. They then observed these cells and monitored the stage and type of cell death. It is believed this is the first time cell death has been monitored in retinas in live animals.
‘We know as Alzheimer’s disease develops, cells in the brain die and the brain shrinks. The study of this disease has been hampered by the difficulty of following the progress directly in the human brain. This research is very exciting as it opens up the possibility of observing individual cells on the human retina using a relatively non-invasive procedure. In the longer term this technique could be used for diagnostic purposes or to help researchers monitor the effects of drugs under development. However, much more research needs to be done before we know if we can get to this stage.
‘A million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years yet research remains drastically underfunded. If we can delay the onset of dementia by five years we can halve the number of people who will die with the disease.’
Dr Susanne Sorensen
Head of Research
Alzheimer’s Society
Study reference: ‘Imaging multiple phases of neurodegeneration: a novel approach to assessing cell death in vivo’ by Prof Fracesca Cordeiro and Prof Stephen Moss et al.
Cell Death and Disease journal.
Source
Alzheimer’s Society