The Use of Biomarkers for Prediction and Prevention of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases

Abstract

Among the diverse challenges facing clinicians during the last century, is the staggering increase in the proportion of elderly members, which is directly linked to the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). AD and PD are considered disorders of multifactorial origin, inevitably progressive and having a long preclinical period. At present, clinical diagnosis of AD and PD is based on a constellation of symptoms and manifestations, although the disease originated several years earlier. Therefore, the availability of biological markers or biomarkers (BMs) for early disease diagnosis will impact the management of AD and PD in several dimensions: (a) help to capture high-risk individuals before symptoms develop, a stage where prevention efforts might be expected to have their greatest impact; (b) provide a measure of disease progression that can be evaluated objectively, while clinical measures are much less accurate; (c) help to discriminate between true AD or PD and other causes presenting with a similar clinical syndrome; (d) delineate pathophysiological processes responsible for the disease; (e) determine the clinical efficacy of novel, disease-modifying (neuroprotective) strategies. In the long run the availability of reliable BMs will significantly advance the research and therapeutics of these neurodegenerative diseases. However, at present, the available BMs are of limited value in all these respects. There is an urgent need to further explore this field in order to have validated BMs on hand once neuroprotective interventions become available.