Biomarkers for Older Controls At Risk for Dementia
BIOCARD Study
BIOCARD is a longitudinal, observational study of 349 individuals who were cognitively normal and primarily middle aged (mean age=57.1) at enrollment. By design, more than two-third of this study's participants had a family history of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The primary goal was to follow individuals from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, so that it would be possible to identify biomarkers that predicted progression.
The rationale for this study design is that several lines of evidence indicate that AD pathophysiological processes begin to develop many years, if not decades, before AD dementia is diagnosed. This long prodromal phase provides a 'window of opportunity' during which symptoms are minimal (if present at all) but therapeutic intervention may have the greatest opportunity of success.
The BIOCARD study is in a unique position to examine 'preclinical AD', since the participants:
(1) have been followed for up to 18 years (mean follow-up = 12.1 yrs),
(2) are entering a period of accelerating risk, and
(3) 63 of those alive have developed mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.
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Our overall objectives are to further advance the study of preclinical AD by: (1) clarifying the pattern and rate of changes in AD biomarkers (including CSF, MRI, amyloid imaging and blood) and cognition that occur, as well as evaluate potential new biomarkers, (2) maximizing our data by working collaboratively with several research groups who have comparable data, and (3) providing a publicly accessible database, to include biological specimens, for researchers in the field.
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Our Role in BIOCARD Study
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Our lab is the biomarker core of BIOCARD study. We process and measure proteins in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples of the study participants to identify aging and AD biomarkers.