Executive Summary : | Neurodegenerative are characterized by a progressive loss of functional neurons and associated with structural and neuro-ocular changes. AD is the most common cause of dementia in elderly leading to progressive loss of memory and other cognitive dysfunctions due to the impairment of neurons and synapses, leading to neuronal death. It is detected using costly imaging or testing biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid which is an invasive procedure. There is search for biomarkers in blood and urine for diagnosis. Paucity of effective biomarker limit the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease in geriatric patient. Another critical factors in biomarker research is the inadequate linkage of biological samples with data from medical records, environmental exposure, lifestyle information and other medically relevant information. Protein in tear fluid may be used as a biomarker. Kenny et al. identified a protein called elongation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) which is present in the tear fluid of Alzheimer's disease patients in early stage and also analysed microRNAs in tear samples by a PCR array that amplified 754 microRNAs from each sample. The aim of the study is to identify the protein and miRNA biomarkers from tear fluid for the diagnosis of AD, which may be used to early detection. The hypothesize is that tear production and composition of tear proteins and microRNA may alter in patient with AD. So, the broad question underlines this proposal is whether neurodegenerative disease can be early diagnosed by the screening of tear specific protein in Indian patients? We are also interested to know if tear production altered in neurodegenerative patient compared to cognitively healthy controls. The aim of this study is to test if the protein markers in tear fluid especially Amyloid β and eIF4E could help in early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. Detect the expression of previously reported AD-specific miRNA in tear fluid between healthy control and the patient with established AD cases. It will provide a rationale for developing and validating non-invasive biomarkers in the tears which can be used for screening of geriatric cases by physician and positive cases can be referred to the neurologist for early management. |