A researcher in Florida has discovered a brand-new way to test for diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The technique utilizes simple blood tests that screen for antibodies produced by the immune system. These simple blood tests can be a simpler, less invasive, accurate way to diagnose diseases.
Up until now, diseases have almost always been identified by searching for antigens that are produced by an existing virus, bacteria or disease. Antigens are small pieces of proteins that identify the presence of a virus, bacteria or disease.
Now, a new research technique has been developed by Thomas Kodadek, a professor of chemistry and cancer biology at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla. The new technique searches for antibodies in blood samples. Antibodies are pieces of protein that the body’s immune system produces to fight a specific virus, bacteria or disease.
Because antigens can sometimes be very difficult to identify or target, this new research with antibodies opens up a whole new diagnostic system for diseases. It potentially means that diseases can be diagnosed earlier. Not only that, but new types of antibodies may be determined to be associated with certain diseases, based upon the innovative blood testing method implemented by Kodadek.
In order to carry out the research, Kodadek compared blood samples from 18 people: six with Alzheimer’s, six with Parkinson’s and six healthy patients. In order to measure for the antibodies, the researchers used a “high throughput” screening that included thousands of synthetic molecules called peptoids. The results showed that two of synthetic molecules collected three times the amount of immunoglobin (IgG) antibodies from the Alzheimer’s patients, as compared to the Parkinson’s and control patients.
What this means is that, once scientists know the specific synthetic molecules that accurately and effectively act as a lure for specific antibodies, they can accurately diagnose people with specific viruses, bacteria or diseases.
Kodadek and others who are familiar with his research, which was reported in this week’s scientific journal Cell, warn that more testing needs to be done with larger samples of patients in order to confirm these original findings. However, Kodadek told Newsweek’s HealthDay that subsequent research confirms the work published in Cell.
The promising research is great news not only for Alzheimer’s patients (Kodadek said earlier diagnosis is a positive thing for future research, if not the patients themselves, because there are no cures for Alzheimer’s once it is diagnosed), but for everyone. Once the antibody blood tests are deemed reliable, they could be used to identify human biomarkers for any number of diseases, such as cancers, etc. The biomarkers can also help researchers to learn more about the disease process itself.
For instance, small cancer cells may exist in a person’s body for years before any symptoms appear or a diagnosis is made. However, it may be possible in the future to test a person’s blood in order to identify antibodies or biomarkers that would allow for earlier diagnosis.
Kodadek performed his groundbreaking research at OPKO laboratory in Jupiter, Fla. Publicly traded OPKO purchased the rights to Kodadek’s technology in June of 2009.
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