The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health’s (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium announced that the results of a proteomics study performed utilizing plasma samples from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) are ready to be shared with scientists worldwide for further analysis. This study represents the work of the “Biomarkers Consortium Project Use of Targeted Multiplex Proteomic Strategies to Identify Plasma-Based Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease.” This project is intended to be the first part of a multiphased effort seeking to utilize samples collected by ADNI to qualify multiplex panels in both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid to diagnose patients with Alzheimer’s disease and monitor disease progression. This data is available to the scientific community for download and further analysis via the ADNI Web site, available at adni.loni.ucla.edu.
This Biomarkers Consortium project utilized plasma samples gathered by ADNI, a $60 million project launched in 2004 which concluded by the end of 2010, which is a public-private partnership supported primarily by the NIH with pharmaceutical, imaging, and clinical trial management companies; not-for-profit organizations; and donations from individuals providing support through the FNIH. One of the largest scale neuroimaging projects ever undertaken, ADNI involves longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography brain imaging and blood, urine, and spinal fluid biomarker studies of more than 800 individuals, half of whom have mild cognitive impairment, a condition placing them at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia.
A renewal of the ADNI effort was announced in October 2010 by the FNIH and National Institute on Aging, which will continue ADNI for an additional 5 years through late 2015.
(Source: FNIH news release, December 7, 2010)
