Indians find rapid method to diagnose Alzheimer's

Delhi researchers claim measuring brains acidity level can give clues

In what may lead to a novel diagnostic tool for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), medical researchers in Delhi have found that measuring the acidity level of brain can help identify patients with Alzheimer's disease accurately.

The researchers claim if suspected AD patients spend less than 15 minutes inside an MRI machine, they will be able to extract adequate information to identify those cases where Alzheimer’s Disease has just set in as well as those cases where it is well established.

Early diagnosis can improve quality of life for AD patients whose numbers are on the rise because of a steady rise in the number of aging population in India.

Alzheimer’s Disease is clinically diagnosed by neurologists through behavioural scrutiny and memory tests.

“This is a definitive test, which does not give any false results. But it is a parallel test and has to be done only on those who have shown some behavioural characteristics,” Pravat Mandal, scientist at National Brain Research Centre, Manesar told Deccan Herald.

The NBRC researchers together with neurologists at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, measured the acidity level of 23 people, out of which 12 were normal healthy young people whereas the remaining were AD and Minor Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients. Five were MCI patients above 50 years while six patients above 55 years had Alzheimer's.

The acidity level of one portion of the brain responsible for cognitive functions was tested using an MRI machine, which measures the level of certain chemicals in the brain. They found that for Alzheimer's patients, a specific portion of brain is distinctively alkaline.

The team also measured the levels of some other brain chemicals. Subsequent laboratory analysis determines if a person is suffering from mild cognitive impairment or AD.
The findings have been reported in the online edition of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

“The new special MRI test will add to the confidence of diagnosis and improve predictability of those patients where the disorder is in an early stage,” AIIMS neurologist Manjari Tripathi, who is associated with the research said.

The NBRI-AIIMS team had earlier reported MRI-sensing of another brain chemical named glutathione for Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis.

Varying levels of these brain chemicals and its acidity status could provide a new clinical diagnostics in future for which the team planed to carry out extensive research on 50 AD patients, Mandal said. Results he obtained are statistically significant.

“This research suggests that these parameters can provide crucial clinical information and could be used as bio-marker for AD. Monitoring of the brain acidity level gives important clues to the normal or diseased conditions,” commented Arun Kumar, professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, who is not connected to the research.