Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0948, USA.
Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 1275 Center Drive, BMS J-497, P.O. Box 100159, Gainesville, FL32610-0159, USA.
Alzheimers Res Ther. 2013 Mar 7;5(2):10. doi: 10.1186/alzrt164. eCollection 2013.
Substances produced throughout the body are detectable in the blood, which is the most common biological fluid used in clinical testing. Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have long been sought in the blood, but none has become an established or validated diagnostic test. Companion reviews in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy will review specific types of biomarkers or applications; in this overview, we cover key concepts related to AD blood biomarker studies in general. Reasons for the difficulty of detecting markers of a brain-specific disorder, such as AD, in the blood are outlined; these pose conceptual challenges for blood biomarker discovery and development. Applications of blood tests in AD go beyond screening and diagnostic testing; other potential uses are risk assessment, prognostication, and evaluation of treatment target engagement, toxicity, and outcome. Opportunities and questions that may surround these different uses are discussed. A systematic approach to biomarker discovery, detection, assay development and quality control, sample collection, handling and storage, and design and analysis of clinical studies needs to be implemented at every step of discovery and translation to identify an interpretable and useful biomarker.
在整个身体中产生的物质可在血液中检测到，血液是临床检测中最常用的生物液体。长期以来，人们一直在血液中寻找阿尔茨海默病（AD）的生物标志物，但没有一种标志物成为既定的或经过验证的诊断测试。《阿尔茨海默病研究与治疗》中的伴随评论将回顾特定类型的生物标志物或应用；在本综述中，我们涵盖了与 AD 血液生物标志物研究一般相关的关键概念。概述了在血液中检测到大脑特异性疾病（如 AD）标志物的困难的原因；这些对血液生物标志物的发现和开发提出了概念上的挑战。血液测试在 AD 中的应用不仅限于筛查和诊断测试；其他潜在用途包括风险评估、预后以及评估治疗靶点的参与、毒性和结果。讨论了这些不同用途可能带来的机会和问题。需要在发现和转化的每个步骤实施系统的生物标志物发现、检测、分析开发和质量控制、样本采集、处理和储存，以及临床研究的设计和分析，以识别可解释和有用的生物标志物。
