Expression analysis of beta-secretase 1 (BACE1) enzyme in peripheral blood of patients with Alzheimer's disease

Background: recent evidence has indicated that beta-secretase 1 (bace1) is involved in the production of amyloid beta (aβ) in patients affected with alzheimer’s disease (ad). therefore; the purpose of this study was to measure mrna and plasma levels of bace1 in ad patients, as an early diagnosis biomarker for such individuals. methods: a total number of thirty ad patients and thirty normal subjects as controls were recriuted in the present study. plasma levels of bace1 were then examined via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) and also mrna expression of bace1 in total blood was measured using real-time pcr technique. results: the findings revealed a significant difference in gene expression of bace1 in the peripheral blood of ad patients compared with that in controls (p<0.0001). additionally, elevated plasma levels of bace1 were found in ad patients compared with those in normal subjects (p<0.01). statistical analyses also demonstrated no correlation between expression (mrna and protein) of bace1 in both ad patients and controls and age or the results of mini-mental state examination (mmse) scale (p>0.05). conclusion: given the importance of early diagnosis of ad patients, it was suggested that the measurement of plasma levels and also mrna expression of bace1 might be a valuable blood-based biomarker used in preference to other invasive diagnostic methods such as cerebrospinal fluid (csf) analysis.