Researchers from the Emory Goizueta Brain Health Institute, along with partner organizations, have identified blood proteins that may help explain the development of Alzheimer’s disease and its effects on memory. The study analyzed blood samples from over 2,100 individuals across four research groups, using advanced techniques to measure thousands of proteins and connect them to brain changes and cognitive function.
While amyloid plaques in the brain have traditionally been seen as a key feature of Alzheimer’s, this new research highlights additional biological processes involved in the disease. The team discovered that proteins linked to immune function, protein disposal systems, energy metabolism, and the body’s extracellular matrix are associated with memory and thinking difficulties.
The researchers also found that some of these protein changes could not be accounted for by known brain alterations related to Alzheimer’s. This suggests that factors outside the brain—such as those occurring in blood or other organs—may influence both risk for the disease and its progression.
“Many of the proteins we found in blood are not directly tied to what we see in the brain after death,” said Erik Johnson, MD, PhD, senior author and physician-researcher at Emory’s Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “This means that what’s happening in the rest of the body could play a role in Alzheimer’s risk and how fast the disease progresses.”
These findings could lead to new therapies focused on targeting blood-based pathways instead of only aiming treatments at the brain.
“This study advances our understanding of proteins in the blood that change with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Allan Levey, MD, PhD, executive director of the Goizueta Institute at Emory. “This work is foundational to the development of blood tests for detecting different pathologies that occur in the brain along with amyloid plaques, and for clinical translation.”
The research also supports further development of blood tests as a less invasive method for diagnosing and monitoring Alzheimer’s disease.
Participants were drawn from studies at Emory University as well as national projects including Bio-Hermes, Religious Orders Study, and Rush Memory and Aging Project (ROSMAP). Funding was provided by several organizations including the National Institutes of Health, Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation, and Gates Ventures.
