Alzheimer’s Blood Diagnostic Test

Dr. Sandra Banack analyzing exosome test data.

At Brain Chemistry Labs, contrary to many other labs, we support the idea that misfolded β-amyloid and tau proteins are consequences rather than causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

As a result, we fear using β-amyloid and tau as blood-borne markers to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease is too late in the disease process to modify the outcome.

We recently published our discovery of a unique metabolite that can diagnose Alzheimer’s at far earlier stages. Our test may even be predictive in pre-symptomatic cases.

As a way of increasing the sensitivity of the test, we will expand the number of blood samples in our cohort by incorporating blood samples from our upcoming clinical trial for Mild Cognitive Impairment, scheduled to commence in August, 2022.

Validation of two diagnostic blood-marker tests for ALS and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Rachael Dunlop runs our qPCR for microRNA disease diagnostics.

Our discoveries of blood diagnostic tests for ALS (based on microRNA) and Alzheimer’s disease (based on a unique metabolite) have now been published in prestigious scientific journals.

We are busily engaged in the painstaking process of validating these tests, using samples from the Centers for Disease Control for ALS, and previous samples from our Phase II early-stage Alzheimer’s trial.

We seek a pharmaceutical partner to commercialize these blood diagnostics so they can be made available to the public.

Our mission is to rapidly improve patient outcomes for serious brain diseases and thus, we want these diagnostic tests in the hands of neurologists as soon as possible.

L-serine, a naturally occurring amino acid, and Alzheimer’s disease

Today, a press release issued by researchers at the University of California, San Diego argued that L-serine could be dangerous for consumption.

In a letter to Cell Metabolism the researchers contested previous findings by scientists in France who found that L-serine was effective at reducing cognitive deficits in mice that exhibit aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.

L-serine is a naturally occurring amino acid synthesized by the body and is abundant in food.

While not disputing the cognitive benefits of L-serine, the San Diego team cautioned against
L-serine consumption because they found an increase of the enzyme PHGDH in mice with Alzheimer’s mutations as well as in the hippocampus of human Alzheimer’s patients.

PHGDH is the first step in a three-step enzymatic process within the brain that synthesizes
L-serine.

The San Diego researchers speculated that if PHGDH is increased, L-serine levels might also be increased. However, these researchers did not measure L-serine in the brain, nor did they perform any clinical studies. 

The Brain Chemistry Labs has been studying L-serine as a possible treatment for ALS and Alzheimer’s disease.

In FDA-approved clinical trials, no serious adverse effects have been found in patients taking
L-serine up to 30 grams per day. Furthermore, residents of Ogimi village in Okinawa, many of whom are over 100 years old, have not noted negative effects from their diet which is extremely rich in L-serine. Extensive studies of L-serine in laboratory animals have also failed to find any adverse effects of high-dose L-serine.

 The Brain Chemistry Labs does not encourage individuals outside of the clinical trials we are sponsoring to take L-serine until the FDA approves L-serine for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

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Additional information: 

P.A. Cox, et al. 2016. Dietary exposure to an environmental toxin triggers neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid deposits in the brain. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2397

 P.A. Cox, J.S. Metcalf. 2017. Traditional food items in Ogimi, Okinawa: L-serine content and the potential for neuroprotection. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-017-0191-0

 J. Metcalf, et al. 2018. L-serine: a naturally-occurring amino acid with therapeutic potential. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-017-9814-x

 J. Le Douce, et al. 2020. Impairment of glycolysis-derived L-serine production in astrocytes contributes to cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.02.004

 X. Chen et al. 2022. PHGDH expression increases with progression of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptoms. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.02.008

New Alzheimer’s Biomarker May Facilitate Rapid Diagnosis

Discovery of a unique ratio of metabolites from blood samples of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients promises to speed diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Although symptoms of advanced Alzheimer’s disease are well known, diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages requires careful cognitive testing by neurologists.

Discovery of a unique ratio of metabolites from blood samples of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients promises to speed diagnosis, allowing earlier treatments to be initiated.

“We were delighted to discover that the ratio of two molecules, 2-aminoethyl dihydrogen phosphate and taurine, allows us to reliably discriminate samples of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients from controls,” said Dr. Sandra Banack, lead author of the report in PLOS ONE and Senior Scientist at the Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson Hole.

Dr. Sandra Banack works on the amino acid analyzer in the Brain Chemistry Labs, Jackson, Wyoming.

The blood samples were drawn from patients enrolled in an FDA-approved Phase II trial at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and then shipped to the Brain Chemistry Labs for analysis. Current attempts to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease from blood samples depend on the presence of amyloid fragments, the molecules that cause brain tangles and plaques.

“At the Brain Chemistry Labs, we consider amyloid plaques to be a consequence rather than the cause of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Paul Alan Cox, Executive Director of the Brain Chemistry Labs explains. “What is exciting about this new discovery is that it does not depend on amyloid and the assay can be performed on analytical equipment that is already present in most large hospitals.”

Their report, written with Alzheimer’s expert Dr. Aleksandra Stark, “A Possible Blood Plasma Biomarker for Early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease” is being published this week in PLOS ONE.

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About the Brain Chemistry Labs: The Brain Chemistry Labs is a not-for-profit research institute based in Jackson Hole focused on improving outcomes for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s, ALS, and other neurodegenerative illnesses.

Contacts:
Dr. Sandra Banack, Tel: 307-734-1680, sandra@ethnomedicine.org
Dr. Paul Alan Cox, Tel: 801-375-6214, paul@ethnomedicine.org

Download our press release here

Brain Chemistry Labs’ Executive Director Receives Prestigious Medal from the Garden Club of America

Dr. Paul Cox, Executive Director, Brain Chemistry Labs.

Dr. Paul Cox, Executive Director of the Brain Chemistry Labs, received one of the highest honors bestowed by The Garden Club of America (GCA), the Eloise Payne Luquer Medal for his scientific research related to ALS and Alzheimer’s disease. The medal was presented at the GCA’s annual meeting in Boston on May 19, 2019. According to GCA, “The Eloise Payne Luquer Medal is awarded for special achievement in the field of botany that may include medical research, the fine arts, or education and was presented with gratitude to a renowned ethnobotanist, consummate scientist, teacher, environmentalist, and activist, Dr. Paul Alan Cox. His compassion combined with his rigorous scientific methods are improving our world.”

GCA awards up to 10 National Medals a year to “nationally and internationally recognized leaders in their fields of study or achievement” and describes the medal winners as “visionaries all, passionate and influential, these men, women, and organizations have left a profound and lasting impact on the issues that are most important to the Garden Club of America.”