Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Dis Markers. 2014;2014:826503. doi: 10.1155/2014/826503. Epub 2014 Feb 12.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia pathologically characterized by cerebral amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition. Early and accurate diagnosis of the disease still remains a big challenge. There is evidence that Aβ aggregation starts to occur years before symptoms arise. Noninvasive monitoring of Aβ plaques is critical for both the early diagnosis and prognosis of AD. Presently, there is a major effort on looking for a reasonably priced technology capable of diagnosing AD by detecting the presence of Aβ. Studies suggest that AD is systemic rather than brain-limited focus diseases and the aggregation of the disease-causing proteins also takes place in lens except the brain. There is a possible relationship between AD and a specific subtype of age-related cataract (supranuclear cataract). If similar abnormal protein deposits are present in the lens, it would facilitate non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression. However, there are controversies on the issues related to performance and validation of Aβ deposition in lens as biomarkers for early detection of AD. Here we review the recent findings concerning Aβ deposition in the lenses of AD patients and evaluate if the ocular lens can provide a biomarker for AD.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是最常见的痴呆病理类型，其特征为脑内淀粉样β（Aβ）沉积。该疾病的早期、准确诊断仍然是一个巨大挑战。有证据表明，Aβ聚集在症状出现前数年就开始发生。Aβ斑块的非侵入性监测对 AD 的早期诊断和预后都至关重要。目前，人们正在努力寻找一种价格合理的技术，通过检测 Aβ的存在来诊断 AD。研究表明，AD 是全身性疾病，而不仅仅是大脑局限性疾病，致病蛋白的聚集也发生在晶状体，而不仅仅是大脑。AD 与一种特定类型的年龄相关性白内障（核上性白内障）之间可能存在关联。如果晶状体中存在类似的异常蛋白沉积，将有助于 AD 的非侵入性诊断和疾病进展监测。然而，关于晶状体中 Aβ沉积作为 AD 早期检测生物标志物的性能和验证等问题仍存在争议。本文综述了 AD 患者晶状体中 Aβ沉积的最新发现，并评估了晶状体是否可以作为 AD 的生物标志物。
