{"id":25098,"date":"2025-09-16T04:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/25098\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T04:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:03:07","slug":"new-biomarker-could-detect-alzheimers-years-before-symptoms-appear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/25098\/","title":{"rendered":"New Biomarker Could Detect Alzheimer\u2019s Years Before Symptoms Appear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Old<\/a>A new study suggests that TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, may reveal the earliest stages of Alzheimer\u2019s disease long before symptoms appear. Credit: Stock<\/p>\n

TSPO levels rise early in Alzheimer\u2019s and persist throughout disease. Targeting this biomarker could open new treatment options.<\/p>\n

TSPO, a major marker of brain inflammation, may offer a way to detect Alzheimer\u2019s disease long before memory problems and other symptoms develop. Findings published in Acta Neuropathologica suggest it could transform both diagnosis and treatment strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first study to really examine how early this biomarker increases and where it begins rising in the brain,\u201d said Tom\u00e1s R. Guilarte, lead researcher and dean of FIU\u2019s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work. \u201cIf we can use this information to help delay Alzheimer\u2019s progression by even five years, it can drastically improve patients\u2019 lives and reduce disease prevalence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longstanding research on TSPO<\/p>\n

Guilarte, a recognized authority on TSPO (translocator protein 18 kDa), has investigated the protein for more than 30 years. His research helped establish it as a dependable imaging marker for identifying neuroinflammation across multiple neurological, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric conditions.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/a>Researchers Daniel Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez (L) and Dr. Tom\u00e1s R. Guilarte (R) in the Brain, Behavior and the Environment Laboratory at Florida International University. Guilarte and Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez published a study that found TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, could help detect Alzheimer\u2019s disease years before memory loss and other symptoms set in. Credit: Chris Necuze, Florida International University<\/p>\n

For the current study, Guilarte and colleagues applied advanced imaging techniques to track TSPO activity in genetically engineered mouse models of familial Alzheimer\u2019s. They then validated these results using donated brain tissue from members of the world\u2019s largest community with early-onset familial Alzheimer\u2019s, based in Antioquia, Colombia.<\/p>\n

These families carry the \u201cpaisa\u201d mutation, first identified by the late Dr. Francisco Lopera, a co-author of the study who spent his career searching for ways to prevent Alzheimer\u2019s. Individuals with this genetic variant often develop symptoms in their 30s or 40s and typically die in their 50s.<\/p>\n

\"Microglia<\/a>L: The original cell image. R: The same cell image zoomed in and rendered in the special imaging software. Microglia (blue) signaling TSPO (red) are clustered around plaques (cyan). Researchers at Florida International University published a study that found TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, could help detect Alzheimer\u2019s disease years before memory loss and other symptoms set in.\u00a0 Credit: Chris Necuze, Florida International University
\nEarly changes in the hippocampus<\/p>\n

In the mouse model, researchers detected elevated TSPO levels in the subiculum \u2013 a critical part of the hippocampus \u2013 as early as six weeks of age, roughly equivalent to age 18\u201320 in humans.<\/p>\n

Microglia, the brain\u2019s main immune cells, specifically those clustered around amyloid plaques, had the highest levels of TSPO. Notably, female mice had higher TSPO levels, mirroring real-world statistics: two-thirds of Alzheimer\u2019s patients are women.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/a>Daniel Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez holds tissue sample. Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez, a researcher in Florida International University\u2019s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, is the first author of a study that found TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, could help detect Alzheimer\u2019s disease years before memory loss and other symptoms set in. Credit: Chris Necuze, Florida International University<\/p>\n

The brain tissue samples from the Colombian patients with the paisa mutation showed the same pattern. Even in late-stage Alzheimer\u2019s, TSPO remained high in microglia near plaques. These results raise new questions about TSPO\u2019s function \u2013 whether it contributes to damage or protects the brain \u2013 and whether blocking or enhancing it could halt disease progression.<\/p>\n

Next steps in research<\/p>\n

The team is now working with a specially developed Alzheimer\u2019s mouse model lacking TSPO to explore these questions further. They\u2019re also expanding the study to include sporadic, late-onset Alzheimer\u2019s cases, the form that accounts for over 90% of all diagnoses.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/a>Researchers Dr. Tom\u00e1s R. Guilarte (L) and Daniel Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez (R) in the Brain, Behavior and the Environment Laboratory at Florida International University. Guilarte and Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez published a study that found TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, could help detect Alzheimer\u2019s disease years before memory loss and other symptoms set in. Credit: Chris Necuze, Florida International University<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we understand these processes,\u201d said Daniel Mart\u00ednez P\u00e9rez, first author and Ph.D. candidate in Guilarte\u2019s lab, \u201cthe closer we get to tailoring treatments that can truly help \u2013 before it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cAmyloid-\u03b2 plaque-associated microglia drive TSPO upregulation in Alzheimer\u2019s disease\u201d by Daniel A. Martinez-Perez, Jennifer L. McGlothan, Alexander N. Rodichkin, Karam Abilmouna, Zoran Bursac, Francisco Lopera, Carlos Andres Villegas-Lanau and Tom\u00e1s R. Guilarte, 17 July 2025, Acta Neuropathologica.
DOI: 10.1007\/s00401-025-02912-4<\/a><\/p>\n

This work was supported by grants ES007062-24 to T.R.G. from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), ES007062-23S1 to T.R.G. from the National Institute on Aging, and T32-ES033955 to A.N.R. from the NIEHS.<\/p>\n

Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study suggests that TSPO, a key biomarker of brain inflammation, may reveal the earliest stages of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3135,1596,799,25430,134,25431,10271,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-25098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-alzheimers-disease","9":"tag-brain","10":"tag-dementia","11":"tag-florida-international-university","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-microglia","14":"tag-neurology","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}