Scientists in Malaga have made a major breakthrough in the early detection of Alzheimer’s.
A crack team of researchers have identified blood markers that mirror changes deep inside the brain long before memory problems appear.
Although the findings come from animal models, the team says the results are very promising and that the next step is to replicate them in humans, in a move that could transform how the disease is diagnosed.
The research has been carried out by the Institute of Biomedical Research of Malaga and Nanomedicine Platform (Ibima Plataforma Bionand) and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Malaga (UMA).
The pioneering study identifies new blood biomarkers that accurately reflect the condition of the hippocampus (the brain region essential for memory formation), even before symptoms appear.
‘This takes us closer to personalised medicine,’ said Dr Pedro Serrano Castro, professor at UMA, who led the project alongside Dr Manuel Narvaez and PhD researcher Isabel Moreno-Madrid.
‘If we can detect vulnerability in the brain before symptoms develop, we can apply preventive strategies or treatments to slow disease progression.’
Alzheimer’s causes a gradual and irreversible loss of neurons. Early detection is crucial, yet current tests such as lumbar punctures or PET scans are invasive, expensive or difficult to access, and typically only detect the disease once it is already advanced.
The Malaga team has found that certain molecular complexes present in the hippocampus also appear in white blood cells, meaning a simple blood sample could provide early warning of disease.
These complexes involve receptor proteins linked to key processes such as the generation of new neurons.
Researchers used two experimental rat models:
Early-stage model: similar to mild cognitive impairment. Rats still retained their memory, but the complexes had already changed in both the brain and the blood.
Advanced-stage model: with memory loss and reduced neurogenesis. The same complexes showed parallel declines in both the hippocampus and blood samples.
The findings demonstrate a clear biological link between what happens in the central nervous system and what is detectable in the immune system, in ‘a connection that had never been shown with this level of certainty.’
This raises the possibility of detecting high-risk individuals before symptoms appear, monitoring disease progression through simple blood tests and applying treatments at the moment they are most effective.
‘We’ve found a way to observe the state of the brain through blood,’ said Moreno-Madrid. ‘This biomarker could be key in intervening at the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s.’
