Investigating Autoimmune Contributions to Alzheimer’s Disease

Our study will analyze blood and spinal fluid samples across the clinical spectrum of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to determine whether (i) a subset of AD patients possess autoantibodies (which recognize self-proteins) and (ii) female sex associates with an inflammatory transcript and protein profile.

Given that genetic and clinical evidence suggests a link between autoimmune disease and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk, our study will use advanced sequencing technologies to determine whether AD patients possess self-targeted autoantibodies in their blood or brain that may drive disease. Additionally, we will explore whether female sex is associated with an increase of pro-inflammatory proteins or transcripts. Our study has the potential to identify a subset of AD patients who possess an immune-mediated form of disease and that may benefit from the development of targeted immunotherapies.

Our study will represent the first large-scale, comprehensive survey of autoantibody signatures across the clinical spectrum of AD. We will also examine inflammatory associations with female sex, an understudied aspect of AD biology.

Ultimately, our study could identify whether a subset of AD patients possess autoantibody or hyper-inflammatory signatures in their blood or spinal fluid. By successfully identifying this subset of patients, our study would enrich our understanding of AD pathogenesis and clinical heterogeneity. Furthermore, this study could reveal new avenues for immunotherapeutic intervention, such as candidate pathways and targets for future drug discovery initiatives.