Progranulin Levels in Blood Indicate Frontotemporal Dementia Risk

The amount of the growth factor progranulin in the blood is a predictor of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).

Progranulin plays a major role in the survival of brain cells. People who produce less progranulin have a higher risk of contracting FTD. Scientists have developed a test for measuring the amount of progranulin in the blood and thus predicting a person's risk. The blood test can be used on a large scale and is much simpler and user-friendly than current genetic tests.

The scientists also found that progranulin plays a role in the death of brain cells in other diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

The test was developed by scientists connected to the Born-Bunge Institute (BBI; Antwerp, Belgium), an institute affiliated with the University of Antwerp. BBI's laboratories are focused on the study of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementias, Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease, epilepsy, peripheral neuropathies, and muscular disorders.

Frontal lobe dementia (Frontotemporal Dementia, FTD) strikes people at an early age. After Alzheimer's disease, FTD is the form of dementia that occurs most frequently in patients younger than 65. In FTD, the disease process starts in the frontal lobe where large numbers of brain cells begin to die off. The frontal lobe is involved in regulating behavior, movement, and mood, and it is responsible for cognitive functions such as language. The first clinical signs of FTD are changes in behavior and personality, and in a later stage of the disease, the loss of memory functions.

It is still too early for medicine to combat FTD. Further scientific research is needed to determine how a shortage of progranulin can be restored to normal.

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Born-Bunge Institute