Summary
This project aims to characterize the gut microbiome and organ permeability in adults at different stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), identify longitudinal changes, and associate these with other AD biomarkers to understand AD pathogenesis and identify early, non-invasive diagnostic measures.
What they want
The project pursues three aims: 1) Characterize gut bacterial content and organ permeability in adults at different stages of AD (healthy, cognitively normal with preclinical AD, and symptomatic AD) using metagenomic sequencing, metatranscriptomic profiling, and detection of fecal and serum markers of permeability and inflammation. 2) Identify longitudinal changes in bacterial content and organ permeability in cognitively normal individuals (without or with preclinical AD) and symptomatic AD. 3) Associate bacterial content and organ permeability findings with other AD biomarkers (CSF tau, p-tau, PET tau uptake, CSF and plasma inflammatory markers, and physical activity) obtained from other Projects and Cores of the PPG.
Deliverables
- Characterization of distinct compositional and functional features of preclinical and symptomatic AD gut microbiome.
- Identification of longitudinal changes in gut bacterial content and organ permeability correlating with AD progression.
- Correlations between gut microbiome/organ permeability changes and other AD biomarkers (CSF tau, p-tau, PET tau uptake, inflammatory markers, physical activity).
- Identification of early biomarkers that precede the onset of symptomatic AD.
- Establishment of a foundation for cost-effective, noninvasive measures to diagnose AD.
Technical requirements
- Metagenomic sequencing
- Metatranscriptomic profiling
- Detection of fecal markers of permeability and inflammation
- Detection of serum markers of permeability and inflammation
