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Patients with early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease may be prescribed anti-amyloid therapy, which can help clear the sticky clumps of amyloid protein in the brain that characterize Alzheimer's. While these treatments cannot cure Alzheimer's or restore cognitive function to normal, they have been shown to slow the progression of the disease. Their effects may vary, and clinicians have had no way to monitor treatment in an individual patient besides expensive brain scans.

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis of nearly 200 patients receiving lecanemab, an anti-amyloid treatment marketed under the brand name Leqembi, identified dozens of blood proteins that change during treatment. Levels of these proteins, or biomarkers, reflect brain health, and the study identified which ones could potentially help monitor treatment effects.

"When patients want to know how the anti-amyloid treatments are working, it's difficult to provide a clear answer," said co-senior author Suzanne Schindler, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology at WashU Medicine.

"We know from clinical trials that anti-amyloid treatments are likely to help the average patient with early symptoms of Alzheimer's, but right now we have limited tools to monitor treatment effects.

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