Establishment of a consensus protocol to explore the brain pathobiome in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Research outline and call for collaboration.

Authors

Richard Lathe
Nikki M Schultek
Brian J. Balin, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic MedicineFollow
Garth D Ehrlich
Lavinia Alberi Auber
George Perry
Edward B Breitschwerdt
David B Corry
Richard L Doty
Robert A Rissman
Peter L Nara
Ruth Itzhaki
William A Eimer
Rudolph E Tanzi

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-7-2023

Abstract

Microbial infections of the brain can lead to dementia, and for many decades microbial infections have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. However, a causal role for infection in AD remains contentious, and the lack of standardized detection methodologies has led to inconsistent detection/identification of microbes in AD brains. There is a need for a consensus methodology; the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative aims to perform comparative molecular analyses of microbes in post mortem brains versus cerebrospinal fluid, blood, olfactory neuroepithelium, oral/nasopharyngeal tissue, bronchoalveolar, urinary, and gut/stool samples. Diverse extraction methodologies, polymerase chain reaction and sequencing techniques, and bioinformatic tools will be evaluated, in addition to direct microbial culture and metabolomic techniques. The goal is to provide a roadmap for detecting infectious agents in patients with mild cognitive impairment or AD. Positive findings would then prompt tailoring of antimicrobial treatments that might attenuate or remit mounting clinical deficits in a subset of patients.

Publication Title

Alzheimer's and Dementia

PubMed ID

37283269

Comments

This article was published in Alzheimer's & Dementia.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13076.

Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Recommended Citation

Lathe, Richard; Schultek, Nikki M; Balin, Brian J.; Ehrlich, Garth D; Auber, Lavinia Alberi; Perry, George; Breitschwerdt, Edward B; Corry, David B; Doty, Richard L; Rissman, Robert A; Nara, Peter L; Itzhaki, Ruth; Eimer, William A; and Tanzi, Rudolph E, "Establishment of a consensus protocol to explore the brain pathobiome in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Research outline and call for collaboration." (2023). PCOM Scholarly Papers. 2212.
https://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/scholarly_papers/2212