Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Bentham Science Publishers

Faculty

Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science

School

School of Medical Sciences

RAS ID

18808

Comments

Francois M., Leifert W., Martins R., Thomas P., & Fenech M. (2014). Biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease risk in peripheral tissues; focus on buccal cells. Current Alzheimer Research, 11(6), 519-531. The published manuscript is Available at EurekaSelect here

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disorder of the brain and is the most common form of dementia. To-date no simple, inexpensive and minimally invasive procedure is available to confirm with certainty the early diagnosis of AD prior to the manifestations of symptoms characteristic of the disease. Therefore, if population screening of individuals is to be performed, more suitable, easily accessible tissues would need to be used for a diagnostic test that would identify those who exhibit cellular pathology indicative of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD risk so that they can be prioritized for primary prevention. This need for minimally invasive tests could be achieved by targeting surrogate tissues, since it is now well recognized that AD is not only a disorder restricted to pathology and biomarkers within the brain. Human buccal cells for instance are accessible in a minimally invasive manner, and exhibit cytological and nuclear morphologies that may be indicative of accelerated ageing or neurodegenerative disorders such as AD. However, to our knowledge there is no review available in the literature covering the biology of buccal cells and their applications in AD biomarker research. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize some of the main findings of biomarkers reported for AD in peripheral tissues, with a further focus on the rationale for the use of the buccal mucosa (BM) for biomarkers of AD and the evidence to date of changes exhibited in buccal cells with AD.

DOI

10.2174/1567205011666140618103827

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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Neurosciences Commons

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