BIOCRATES Test Kit Helps Develop First Metabolomics-Based Blood Test for Alzheimer’s

The findings, published in Nature Medicine, were generated using the validated AbsoluteIDQ® p180 test kit by Austrian BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG, a leading developer of innovative metabolomics solutions.

A team of researchers in Georgetown, Washington DC, and Rochester, New York, has developed the world’s first blood test capable of predicting Alzheimer’s disease. The first-of-its-kind study, recently published in Nature Medicine, used the AbsoluteIDQ® p180 test kit by BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG, a leading Austrian biotech company specialized in targeted metabolite quantification. 

Alzheimer’s disease currently affects more than 35 million individuals worldwide, and this figure is expected to increase to up to 150 million by 2050. A cure for Alzheimer’s disease is currently not available, but early detection could contribute to substantially improving the situation of affected individuals. While biomarkers have long been expected to provide important clues to the early causes of Alzheimer’s disease, current biomarkers are either invasive, time-consuming, or costly. The team around Mapstone and Federoff now discovered that a set of 10 lipids from peripheral blood predicts the development of mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease with over 90% accuracy and 2–3 years in advance. Although it will take some time to develop test versions fit for use in doctors’ offices, the findings by Mapstone et al. are an impressive example of the power of metabolomics in diagnosis and biomarker discovery.

AbsoluteIDQ p180 provides extensive metabolic information from a single targeted assay, quantifying 186 analytes from 5 substance classes in a high-throughput manner. It features the advanced proprietary MetIDQ™ software solution, requires minute sample volumes (10 µL), and is suitable for use with a wide range of biological samples, making it an excellent choice for researchers looking for a cost-effective solution to measure endogenous metabolites under quality-controlled conditions. The AbsoluteIDQ kits by BIOCRATES have been successfully applied in many different areas, including diabetes, nephrology, sepsis, and CNS disorders, in both clinical and pharmaceutical research.