Posted on 10/12/2021 12:04:45 PM PDT by Red Badger
Levels of certain microRNAs indicate risk for cognitive decline. Researchers at the DZNE and the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have identified molecules in the blood that can indicate impending dementia. Their findings, which are presented in the scientific journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, are based on human studies and laboratory experiments. Various university hospitals across Germany were also involved in the investigations. The biomarker described by the team led by Prof. André Fischer is based on measuring levels of so-called microRNAs. The technique is not yet suitable for practical use; the scientists therefore aim to develop a simple blood test that can be applied in routine medical care to assess dementia risk. According to the study data, microRNAs could potentially also be targets for dementia therapy.
“When symptoms of dementia manifest, the brain has already been massively damaged. Presently, diagnosis happens far too late to even have a chance for effective treatment. If dementia is detected early, the odds of positively influencing the course of the disease increase,” says André Fischer, research group leader and spokesperson at the DZNE site in Göttingen and professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at UMG. “We need tests that ideally respond before the onset of dementia and reliably estimate the risk of later disease. In other words, tests that give an early warning. We are confident that our current study results pave the way for such tests.”
Molecular Signature The biomarker that Fischer and his colleagues have found is based on measuring so-called microRNAs in the blood. MicroRNAs are molecules with regulatory properties: they influence the production of proteins and thus a key process in the metabolism of every living being. “There are many different microRNAs and each of them can regulate entire networks of interdependent proteins and thus influence complex processes in the organism. So, microRNAs have a broad impact. We wanted to find out whether there are specific microRNAs whose presence in the blood correlates with mental fitness,” Fischer says.
Through extensive studies in humans, mice, and cell cultures, the researchers ultimately identified three microRNAs whose levels were associated with mental performance. For this, they analyzed data from both young, cognitively normal individuals and from elderly people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). For the data from healthy individuals, the Göttingen scientists cooperated with Munich University Hospital. The data from MCI patients came from a DZNE study that has been running for years and involves university clinics throughout Germany.
Omens of Dementia In the end, the various findings came together like pieces of a puzzle: In healthy individuals, levels of microRNAs correlated with mental fitness. The lower the blood level, the better the subjects performed in cognition tests. In mice, in turn, this score increased even before the rodents started to show mental decline – regardless of whether this was due to age or because they developed symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s dementia. Further evidence came from patients with MCI: Of those in whom the blood marker was highly elevated, about 90 percent developed Alzheimer’s disease within two years. “We therefore see an increased blood level of these three microRNAs as a harbinger of dementia,” Fischer says. “We estimate that in humans this biomarker indicates a development that is about two to five years in the future.”
Potential Targets for Therapy In their studies on mice and cell cultures, the researchers also found that the three identified microRNAs influence inflammatory processes in the brain and “neuroplasticity” which includes the ability of neurons to establish connections with each other. This suggests that the three microRNAs are more than warning signals. “In our view, they are not only markers, but also have an active impact on pathological processes. This makes them potential targets for therapy,” Fischer says. “Indeed, we see in mice that learning ability improves when these microRNAs are blocked with drugs. We’ve observed this in mice with age-related mental deficits, as well as in mice with brain damage similar to that occurring in Alzheimer’s disease.”
Application in Routine Care The novel marker still requires further testing; moreover, the current measurement procedure is too complex for practical use: “In further studies, we aim to validate this biomarker clinically. In addition, we intend to develop a simple test procedure for point-of-care screening,” says Fischer. “Our goal is to have a low-cost test, similar to the rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 with the difference that for our purposes, you would need a drop of blood. Such a test could be used during routine checkups in doctors’ practices to detect an elevates risk of dementia early on. Individuals with suspicious results could then undergo more elaborate diagnostics.”
Reference: “A microRNA-signature that correlates with cognition and is a target against cognitive decline” by Rezaul Islam, Lalit Kaurani et al., 11 October 2021, EMBO Molecular Medicine.
DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202013659
Just to add to the confusion, microRNA (miRNA) serves a different function from messenger RNA (mRNA). The body is a complicated thing.
Stopped reading right there.
If I had a nickel for every "medical breakthrough" which never sees the light of day …
From Wikipedia...
A microRNA (abbreviated miRNA) is a small single-stranded non-coding RNA molecule (containing about 22 nucleotides) found in plants, animals and some viruses, that functions in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.[1] miRNAs function via base-pairing with complementary sequences within mRNA molecules.[2] As a result, these mRNA molecules are silenced, by one or more of the following processes: (1) cleavage of the mRNA strand into two pieces, (2) destabilization of the mRNA through shortening of its poly(A) tail, and (3) less efficient translation of the mRNA into proteins by ribosomes.
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The human body is a very delicate mechanism of multitudinous chemical and physical-chemical reactions. So miRNA acts as a sort of “throttle” on mRNA transcription processes. The obvious question that comes to mind is what happens with an mRNA vaccine without the associated miRNA to “throttle” protein transcription.
I wonder how large regular-sized RNA is? ;^)
bkmk
No doubt pre-emptive euthanasia will be recommended.
bkmk
At some point, they will discover a ‘dementia’ gene and kill you at 30........................
The presence of the 3 microRNA signature appears to be definitive for age related cognative decline in mice and humans. Treatment with anti-microRNA inhibitory oligonucleotides also seems to reverse some of the cognative decline in mice. This is a very promising approach for at least detecting AD at this point.
Some of this may face the same problem as detection of genetic markers for cancer or dementia face. People may not want to know their future at least until there is a practical cure.
By most prior standards, Covid pseudo-vaccines would fall under the same category.
Biden provided the first sample . . .
Exactly why people should be skeptical of the reasoning in pushing this mrna vaccine. We should not be messing with our genetic machinery(i.e giving it fake mRNA) unless it is absolutely life or death. Not 99% life vs 1% death...they coulda’ done an old school vaccine instead...
Long way from mice to men...
“...the more we know, the worse we get...
So if you got no regrets
Go have your fortune read...”
Gordon Lightfoot
I am in full agreement with that statement from the article. Unfortunately medical doctors won't level with the caretakers and tell them the demented loved one is doomed and nobody in the medical profession can help them out.
Instead of looking for help within the medical profession hire an elder services lawyer who is experienced in your state with dementia patients and caretakers.
Forget help from the medical profession, all they will do is prescribe Namenda, donepizil and other drugs that may or may not help slow dementia down. They can't stop it or cure it.
Things like Nursing homes, patient payment allowances, bank accounts, wills, deeds to property, State power of attorney, if social security is involved the Fed Govt will not recognize any state power of attorney and you will have to get a Federal "Representative Payee" designation to handle social security. The rules are different in every state.
All of this involves piles and months of paperwork.
Get a lawyer onboard before the Caretaker has to put the loved in the nursing home when the demented person's bowels fail, and their falls and wandering gets out of control and they need 24 hour attention.-Tom
How many of the tested subjects were jabbed with the clot shot?
How many were tested that had not been jabbed?
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