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US 6,183,981 B2Granted
Diagnostic assay for late-onset Alzheimer's disease
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorFrancisco Gonzalez-Lima
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a quantitative assay for early diagnosis of late-onset sporadic AD in living individuals using peripheral tissue biopsy. The assay may also be used for post-mortem diagnosis. More particularly, the invention relates to detecting changes in the level of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase activity for diagnosing and monitoring AD.
Claims20
A method of diagnosing late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (AD) comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining a sample from a human subject;
- (b) assessing cytochrome oxidase activity in nucleated cells of said sample;
- and
- (c) comparing the cytochrome oxidase activity in nucleated cells of said sample with the cytochrome oxidase activity of a standard,
- wherein a decrease in cytochrome oxidase activity in nucleated cells of said sample, with respect to said standard, indicates that said subject has AD.
2 more elements
A method for monitoring a treatment for late-onset sporadic AD comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining a sample from a human subject following a treatment thereof;
- (b) assessing cytochrome oxidase activity in nucleated cells of said sample;
- and
- (c) comparing the cytochrome oxidase activity in nucleated cells of said sample with a standard;
- wherein an increase in cytochrome oxidase activity in nucleated cells of said sample, with respect to said standard, indicates that said treatment is effective.
2 more elements
A diagnostic kit comprising:
- (a) a cytochrome oxidase substrate in a suitable container means therefor;
- (b) a cytochrome oxidase enzyme preparation for use as a standard, and a suitable container means therefor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.