Jason Hinman, MD, PhD: Biomarker Helps Diagnose Vascular Dementia

"It can be challenging for doctors to determine whether a patient’s cognitive impairments stem predominately from Alzheimer’s disease or vascular problems, the two most common causes of dementia. Doctors typically rely on MRIs or CAT scans to detect evidence of brain injury to help make that determination. Now, researchers at UCLA Health report a key blood molecule may help doctors identify how much impaired blood flow to a patient’s brain is contributing to dementia or cognitive problems.

Their findings are published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association in a paper titled, “Placental Growth Factor is a Sensitive Biomarker for Vascular Cognitive Impairment.”

The researchers found that patients with higher levels of placental growth factors (PIGF) were more likely to have cognitive impairment or evidence of brain injury.

“Historically, diagnostic studies for cognitive impairment and dementia have been limited to structural brain imaging, but increasingly there’s a recognition that we can use the bloodstream as an available but imperfect tool to understand who maximally benefits from those structural and functional imaging tools,” said UCLA associate professor and vice chair of research in neurology Jason Hinman, MD, PhD, the study’s lead author. “It may also tell us who might be the best candidates for some of the really new emerging drugs that are available on the market to treat cognitive impairment and dementia.”"

Read more at Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.