April 12, 2011 - Single Molecule Technology First to Detect Increase in Alzheimer’s Disease Plaque Peptide Following Cardiac Arrest – Quanterix Corporation, enabling a new generation of diagnostics based on revolutionary Single Molecule Array (SiMoA™) technology, announced that significant elevations in blood levels of amyloid beta (Aβ) 42 peptide, a component of the plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, were detected in patients who experienced hypoxia (inadequate supply of oxygen to the brain) following cardiac arrest. The ability of SiMoA to measure extremely low abundance proteins has enabled discovery of a direct link between brain injury caused by hypoxia and increased Aβ42 levels in blood. Results were presented on April 12 at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting April 9–16 in Honolulu, Hawaii.The Aβ42 testing was conducted at Quanterix on serum samples obtained from 26 resuscitated patients who were admitted to the Department of Surgical Sciences, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. In the study, all 26 patients exhibited a significant elevation of Aβ42 ranging from approximately 50% to over 30–fold. "These data are the first to show a correlation between hypoxic stress and the upregulation of Aβ42 in humans. The findings also indicate that Aβ42 levels after cardiac arrest correlate with long term cognitive outcome. The study highlights the potential of SiMoA to illuminate disease pathways involving proteins present at previously undetectable levels." said David Wilson, Ph.D., Senior Director, Product Development at Quanterix and lead author of the study... Quanterix's Press Release -
