Affiliations: [a] Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| [b] The School of Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow, UK
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Elizabeta B. Mukaetova-Ladinska, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL, UK. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: Peripheral biomarkers for dementia are few and far between. Despite research into blood plasma/serum biomarkers for dementia diagnostics, there is a lack of information on erythrocytes and their vast proteomes as potential biomarkers. This review identifies a number of relevant and potentially promising erythrocyte biomarkers for various subtypes of dementia. These include erythrocyte morphology, oxidative stress, and erythrocyte membrane proteins such as the glucose transporter (GLUT-1), amyloid-β, IgG, Hsp90, calpain-1, and band 3 protein. Of those proteins identified Hsp90, amyloid-β, calpain-1 and band 3 show the most promise as pre-clinical biomarkers. However, the most intriguing aspect of erythrocytes is their changed morphology in dementia. The altered morphology not only could be used as a diagnostic biomarker but may be crucial in early pathogenesis of the disease. Further work must be done to establish the pathological connection between the periphery and central disease processes.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid, erythrocyte, membrane, oxidative stress, protein
