For newly diagnosed early may be used the symptom of loss of smell caused by neuronal death by the APP protein. A study by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes of Health showed that a preceding symptom onset of Alzheimer’s disease is loss of smell.
APP, amyloid precursor protein, in this disease was found to be also responsible for the loss of nerve cells responsible for smell, as well as the formation of plaques that affect the neurons and disrupt the mechanisms of memory.
The experiment was conducted on mice genetically modified to produce high levels of APP: in these subjects, the olfactory cell death occurred without the formation of plaques and four times more frequently than normal mice. Furthermore, blocking the protein production stops the mechanism of neuronal death.
Leonardo Belluscio who led the study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, explained: “By reducing the production of APP suppresses the loss of nerve cells: this suggests that the neuronal death related to the development of the disease could be stopped. In addition, deficits in distinction of odors and their detection are among the first symptoms of AD and this can be exploited in the early diagnosis of disease”.
