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Abstract

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer�s disease is essential for preventative or therapeutic measures to be effective. PET scanning has shown that aggregates of β-amyloid are deposited about 10 years before clinical symptoms present. We have developed some Gd-containing contrast agents that bind fibrillar β-amyloid deposits in the brain, and can aid visualization in the T1 and T2 modes of MRI in 5XFAD mice. We suggest that MRI identification of β-amyloid deposits in brain, which works at higher resolution that PET, gives a more accurate analysis of regional distribution of β-amyloid in patients. We have also developed an ELISA which detects only soluble oligomers of beta-amyloid. Levels of these oligomers in blood samples have been found to be higher in AD patients than in age-matched control.

Biography

Brian Austen has completed his PhD from London in 1972 and his post-doctoral research at UCLA in 1976. He started research into the pathogenesis of Alzheimer�s disease at St George�s in 1998.