Researchers develop new blood test to predict onset of Huntington's disease

London: For the first time, a new blood test has been developed that can predict the onset and track progression of Huntington's disease.

The test may help identify new treatments for the genetic brain disorder, which is fatal and currently incurable.

Huntington's disease is an inherited condition in which nerve cells in the brain break down over time.

The finding showed that measuring the levels of neurofilament, a protein released from damaged brain cells, which may help predict the onset and progression of the disease.

Edward Wild from the University College London said,"This is the first time a potential blood biomarker has been identified to track Huntington's disease so strongly."

The study showed that the patients who were carriers of the genetic mutation of the disease had neurofilament concentrations that were 2.6 times that of the control participants.

Researchers said, the level rose throughout the disease course from premanifest to stage 2 disease.

Wild added,"Neurofilament has the potential to serve as a speedometer in Huntington's disease, since a single blood test reflects how quickly the brain is changing."

For the study, the team measured neurofilament levels in blood samples from 366 volunteers who were followed for three years.

In the group who had no symptoms at the start of the study, the level of neurofilament predicted subsequent disease onset, as volunteers with high neurofilament levels in the blood at the start were more likely to develop symptoms in the following three years.

Scientists are presently in the process of testing a new generation of so-called 'gene silencing' drugs that may put brakes on the disease.

Wild noted,"Measuring neurofilament levels could help us figure out whether those brakes are working."

The study was published in the journal Lancet Neurology.