Balanced intake of antioxidants could prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease

Research conducted by the PhD student Mohamed Raâfet Ben Khedher and the postdoctoral researcher Mohamed Haddad under the supervision of Charles Ramassamy, PhD, of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), has shown that an oxidation-antioxidant imbalance in the blood is an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease, rather than a consequence.

The study, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, showed that oxidative markers, known to be involved in Alzheimer's disease, show an increase up to five years before the onset of the disease.

Unlike the current set of invasive and expensive tests used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, the oxidative markers discovered by the research team can be detected by a blood test. These markers are found in plasma extracellular vesicles, which are pockets released by all cells in the body, including those in the brain.   

The research team focused specifically on the "sporadic" Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of the disease which results primarily from the presence of the APOE4 susceptibility gene. This same form of the disease had been studied by the team for other early markers.

This breakthrough brings new hope to Alzheimer's research, the researchers said. Once the disease is symptomatic, it is difficult, if not impossible, to reverse it.