Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's through blood sampling: Leipzig research group develops new test procedure

15.12.2014 11:03

An early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease has many advantages: treatment can begin early and thus maintain quality of life. In addition, people who were diagnosed at an early stage can still manage important things on their own and make provisions for the future. To date, early diagnosis using the currently available diagnostic procedures is time-consuming and does not always lead to a clear result. Private lecturer Dr. Max Holzer from the Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research at the University of Leipzig wants to change this. With his research group, he is developing a blood test that should enable simple and reliable early diagnosis.

Max Holzer is supported with 79,770 euros from the non-profit Alzheimer Research Initiative eV (AFI). His project is one of seven innovative Alzheimer's research projects at German universities that the AFI is now funding with a total of 464,220 euros until 2016.

The Leipzig researchers are working on a blood test that is based on the stimulation of lymphocytes and is easy to evaluate. The test achieved a very high diagnostic value in people with advanced Alzheimer's disease. The researchers now want to test on 100 test subjects whether the procedure also achieves a comparably high level of diagnostic reliability in people with early-stage Alzheimer's.

“These studies are intended to create a diagnostic tool for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and thus improve the possibilities for early treatment for patients,” says Max Holzer, who is being supported by the AFI for the second time since 2006.