ADAPTED enters its final month!

The ADAPTED project comes to an end on 30th September. We will not have time to be too sad about that (although of course we are!). Our final month will be very busy as we work on collecting the remaining data and completing the final analyses which were delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We expect a number of papers to come from this ongoing analysis - every member of the ADAPTED consortium is currently involved in preparing a manuscript!

So far, the ADAPTED project has published several papers including:

• Showing that a rare coding variant in the PLCG2 gene slows Alzheimer's disease progression and maintains cognitive function- apparently counteracting the deleterious effect of the APOE ε4 allele. This highlights the PLCG2 enzyme as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in AD.

• Showing that levels of proteins CDH6 and HAGH are significantly higher in AD patients who also carry the APOE ε4 gene, compared to healthy controls. This suggests that CDH6 and HAGH could be used as new blood-based biomarkers for the detection of presymptomtic AD.

• A demonstration of a human blood-brain barrier on-a-chip model. This can be used, for example, to study the effects of different APOE genotypes on barrier function, or how potential therapies are transported into the brain.

• Identifying an unexpected potential genetic link between echocardiographic measures and cognitive decline in later life. This could be used to design preventative strategies to combat Alzheimer's disease - connecting heart disease monitoring with screening for cognitive problems.

• Identifying 15 metabolites which are associated with cognition (either improved or impaired) - these associations were independent of APOE genotype.

For more details see our publications page and check back here in the coming weeks for further updates!