Nasal Swab Detects Early Alzheimer’s Signs Before Symptoms Appear | Futurity
A quick nasal swab test can now detect early biological signals of Alzheimer’s disease, even before the onset of cognitive and memory problems, according to a new study from Duke University. The research, published in Nature Communications, offers a potential pathway for earlier diagnosis and intervention for a disease that affects millions worldwide.
Currently, diagnosing Alzheimer’s relies on identifying markers that appear later in the disease process, often after significant brain damage has occurred. This new method analyzes cells collected from a gentle swab inserted high into the nasal cavity, accessing nerve and immune cells that reflect changes happening in the brain. Researchers then examine the activity of genes within these cells to identify patterns associated with Alzheimer’s.
“We want to be able to confirm Alzheimer’s very early, before damage has a chance to build up in the brain,” said Bradley J. Goldstein, a professor at Duke University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author. “If we can diagnose people early enough, we might be able to start therapies that prevent them from ever developing clinical Alzheimer’s.”
The nasal swab procedure itself is relatively quick and non-invasive, taking only a few minutes to complete after the application of a numbing spray. A clinician guides a small brush into the upper nasal cavity to collect the necessary cells. The study involved analyzing samples from 22 participants, measuring the activity of thousands of genes across hundreds of thousands of individual cells – generating millions of data points.
The analysis revealed distinct patterns in nerve and immune cells that differentiated individuals with early or diagnosed Alzheimer’s from healthy controls. A combined “nose tissue gene score” accurately separated early and clinical Alzheimer’s cases from healthy individuals approximately 81% of the time, according to the study.
Mary Umstead, a participant in the study, shared her motivation for volunteering. “When the opportunity came along to be part of a research study, I just jumped at it as I would never want any family to have to go through that kind of loss that we went through with Mariah,” she said, referring to her late sister who suffered from young-onset Alzheimer’s. “I would never want any patient to go through what she went through either.” Umstead’s family observed signs of the disease in her sister long before a formal diagnosis was made.
Vincent M. D’Anniballe, the study’s first author and a student in Duke’s Medical Scientist Training Program, highlighted the significance of being able to study living neural tissue. “Much of what we recognize about Alzheimer’s comes from autopsy tissue,” he said. “Now we can study living neural tissue, opening new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment.”
The Duke team is currently expanding the research to include larger participant groups, in collaboration with the Duke &. UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. They are also investigating whether the nasal swab can be used to monitor the effectiveness of Alzheimer’s treatments over time. Duke University has filed a U.S. Patent related to this diagnostic approach. Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health.