Latest biomarker could help discover people in danger for vascular dementia

Dementia is a gaggle of brain diseases that share similar symptoms, corresponding to memory, language, orientation, and behavioral issues. Vascular dementia generally develops within the elderly, affecting between 1% and 4% of individuals over the age of 65, in keeping with Alzheimer’s Switzerland.

It’s attributable to vascular lesions that disrupt the blood supply to the brain, resulting in the death of neurons. There may be currently no cure for vascular dementia, and the one approach to combat it’s prevention by controlling risk aspects corresponding to hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking.

Preventive measures would grow to be simpler with the invention of recent disease biomarkers that will enable a greater identification of individuals in danger. And that is what the HUG and UNIGE team succeeded in by discovering the role of the CCR5 receptor in the event of vascular dementia.

A brand new biomarker for dementia

The study focused on CCR5, a receptor protein linked to chemokines, chemical messengers of the immune system. The team led by Dina Zekry, Head of the division of Internal Medicine for the Aged on the HUG and Associate Professor within the Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics on the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with the team led by Karl-Heinz Krause, a senior physician within the Department of Diagnostics and Medicine on the HUG and Full Professor within the Department of Pathology and Immunology on the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, who were each accountable for the study.

They found that CCR5 plays an important role in brain cells response to oxidative stress, a mechanism involved within the death of neurons. In addition they found a link between a selected genetic variant of CCR5 and that of one other protein, apolipoprotein E (ApoE), known for its role in age-related dementia.

This complex genetic association considerably increases the danger of vascular dementia.

People over the age of 80 who carry this specific genotype are eleven times more more likely to develop vascular dementia.”

Benjamin Tournier, PhD, Biologist, Department of Psychiatry, Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneva

This research of translational nature, an idea that goals to translate fundamental discoveries into concrete clinical applications, has made it possible to make clear the probable mechanisms of dementia through a series of experiments. The research team first highlighted the potential role of CCR5 in ischaemic mechanisms by examining mouse neurons “in vitro”.

They then studied variations within the CCR5 and ApoE genes in a gaggle of 362 people (205 without dementia and 189 with dementia) who agreed to present blood samples annually for a duration of 5 years. These findings were then verified on one other cohort in Italy (157 individuals without dementia and 620 individuals with dementia), consolidating the robustness of the invention.

A serious step towards prevention and treatment

Prof Zekry emphasises the importance of this discovery as a brand new goal for understanding and treating age-related dementia. “This can be a major advance that opens doors for the early identification of people in danger and for the event of targeted therapies. It offers considerable hope for our society with regard to neurocognitive diseases as a complete”. Latest treatment strategies could also emerge from these results aiming at improving the standard of life and functionality of those affected.