New research published in the world’s leading journal Neurology reports a link between higher levels of an inflammatory marker called sCD14 and a higher risk of developing dementia.
The study looked at blood samples and dementia diagnosis of more than 4,700 people over a decade. Researchers found that people with higher blood levels of sCD14 also had a higher risk of dementia.
Each standard deviation unit increase in sCD14 corresponded with a 12% risk increase in dementia, brain ageing and decline in executive function.
Lead researcher Dr Matthew Pase said that tremendous progress was being made in the development of blood biomarkers in dementia and that further investigation could help to understand the clinical impact of this discovery.
“The ultimate goal here is to improve early detection in dementia so that changes can be made ahead of developing the disease.”
Dr Matthew Pase
Implicit Bioscience’s biologic immunotherapy IC14 blocks sCD14 in patients and is currently being developed for the treatment of ALS/MND.
For more about this research, read the Neurology Abstract here.