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As information and research on Alzheimer's disease increases, so does the necessity to evaluate and apply it. The Alzheimer's Association recently convened an international group of scientists to meet this need by proposing the first set of criteria for assessing molecular and biochemical markers for the illness.
The association's Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) sponsored the group, and the work was underwrtten in part by an unrestricted grant from Athena Neurosciences Inc. The new criteria are contained in "Consensus Report of the Working Group on: 'Molecular and Biochemical Markers of Alzheimer's Disease,'" which appears in the April issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
"We've heard many claims about possible indicators for Alzheimer's disease, such as an eyedrop test, a skin test, and several possible genetic links," said Zaven Khachaturian, Ph.D., director of the Alzheimer's Association Reagan Institute. "Each time there is an announcement, the association and its local chapters, doctors, and other health care professionals get bombarded with questions. This paper proposes the first standard against which these claims can be assessed," Khachaturian said.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, the effort to assess such claims will lead to a better ability to detect Alzheimer's disease early and to delay the onset of disabling symptoms, with the ultimate goal being to prevent the disease. The scientists' work, said the association, will accelerate the development of technologies needed for early diagnosis and stimulate further research.
Christopher Colenda, M.D., M.P.H., chair of APA's Council on Aging said, "This is a very well-constructed position statement and guideline statement for Alzheimer's disease. It covers all the things that need to be covered, including the salient features of what is needed for genetic testing-positive and negative predictive value and the need to confirm diagnosis neuropathologically."
Guidelines about validation listed in the report "are the gold standard for any type of diagnostic markers for disease," said Colenda, chair of the psychiatry department at Michigan State University and the College of Human Medicine in East Lansing, Mich. This report, he said, will contribute to efforts to identify the disease earlier and the ability to apply a treatment, promote function, and reduce disability. Identifying markers for disease, he said, helps in the development of probes that lead to new treatments.
In addition to issuing the diagnostic markers, the Alzheimer's Association Reagan Institute has convened a series of working groups focused on important topics in research into Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Each working group is developing a position paper and, if possible, a consensus statement to help identify specific opportunities or new research directions, determine the need for additional research resources, evaluate barriers that impede the progress of research, and guide public policy on research. The association plans to collaborate with the NIA on some of these groups. The first working group, with the NIA, published a consensus paper in September 1997 establishing guidelines for the postmortem diagnosis of Alzheimer's.
Members of the advisory committee to the Working Group on Molecular and Biochemical Markers of Alzheimer's Disease are John Growdon, M.D., director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center at Massachusetts General Hospital; Peter Davies, Ph.D., Albert Einstein of Medicine, Bronx; Sid Gilman, M.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ann Saunders, Ph.D., Duke University, Durham N.C.; Dennis Selkoe, M.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston; Allen Roses, M.D., GlaxoWellcome, Durham, N.C.; and John Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
More information about the Reagan Institute or Alzheimer's research is available by calling the association at (800) 272-3900 or visiting its web site at www.alz.org.