An area of brain tissue thins in people who develop dementia, according to UT Health San Antonio researchers, opening more doors in understanding the harsh disease.
The indicator of whether someone could develop the disease depends on the thickness of the cortical gray matter, researchers said. After sifting through MRIs from a decade ago, researchers found correlations between the thickness of the brain tissue and development of dementia.
Lead study author Claudia Satizabal said replicating this marker could be a way to help identify those who are at high risk for dementia.
“The big interest in this paper is that, if we can replicate it in additional samples, cortical gray matter thickness will be a marker we can use to identify people at high risk of dementia," Satizabal said.
South Texas counties have some of the highest rates of the disease in the nation. For example, Starr County has a 15.5% Alzheimer’s rate with adults 65 and older, according to recent data from the Alzheimer’s Association.
In partnership with the University of California, Davis, and Boston University, the researchers from UT Health San Antonio created an MRI study.
The 1,500 participants were from both Massachusetts’ Framingham Heart Study and California Cohort. Both in the ages of 70-74, California had a predominate group of Black and Latino participants, whereas Massachusetts’ group was predominantly non-Latino white.
According to the research, the biomarker is the same across all races and ethnic groups. The outcome is the same: a thick ribbon of tissues results in better outcomes, and the thin ribbon is generally worse.
A major change is the thinning is not related to genetics after further comparison with the genetic marker APOE4. Meaning if caught early, changes in lifestyle and diet could help with slowing down the disease.
“By detecting the disease early, we are in a better time window for therapeutic interventions and lifestyle modifications, and to do better tracking of brain health to decrease individuals’ progression to dementia,” Satizabal said.
She added that more studies are needed to validate the biomarker, but this discovery is an important start.
