Theme 7 Pre-clinical therapeutic strategies

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Neuroscience
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Neurodegenerative disorders (NDD) pose a growing challenge to healthcare systems due to an aging population.
• Early diagnostic tools are crucial for managing NDD, with blood biomarkers being a promising alternative to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
• Dried blood microsampling techniques like Noviplex dried plasma spot (Np-DPS) and dried blood spot (DBS) offer cost-effective and convenient remote sample collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of Np-DPS and DBS for measuring neurofilament light chain (Nf-L), a key biomarker for neurodegeneration.
• To compare Nf-L measurements from dried samples with standard plasma measurements.
• To assess the potential of these dried sample methods for discriminating between healthy controls and patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Main Methods:

• Commercially available immunodetection assays were used to measure Nf-L.
• Blood samples were collected on Np-DPS and DBS cards, and elutes were analyzed.
• Nf-L levels from dried samples were compared to Nf-L levels in simultaneously collected plasma from healthy controls and ALS patients.

Main Results:

• Nf-L measurement from Np-DPS elutes showed equivalence to standard plasma measurements.
• Nf-L levels in DBS elutes, while different from plasma, successfully discriminated between healthy controls and ALS patients.
• Normalization may be required for DBS analysis due to potential chromatographic effects from retained hemoglobin.

Conclusions:

• Both Np-DPS and DBS cards are viable for remote blood collection and Nf-L measurement.
• Np-DPS provides a reliable alternative to plasma for Nf-L quantification.
• DBS offers a practical method for NDD biomarker detection, particularly for differentiating disease states like ALS, though method-specific adjustments may be needed.