Progranulin is a central protein in both neuronal survival and neurodegenerative diseases. It is thus not surprising that altered progranulin levels represent a universal theme shared across several common neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer’s Disease, for instance, reduced brain levels of progranulin contribute to the specific amyloid disease pathology, while increased levels appear to protect against this pathology. In genetic forms of another type of dementia, namely frontotemporal dementia (FTD), progranulin levels can be reduced. As progranulin can be measured relatively easily in blood, it seemed that a promising new biomarker for types of dementia has now been found. In fact, treatments were proposed to increase progranulin levels, aiming to yield a therapeutic effect for many neurodegenerative diseases. It was suggested to take progranulin in blood as a measure of response for these future treatments.
from Dementia Big http://ift.tt/1TBAY8Z via alcoholic dementia
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