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Olfactory dysfunction occurs in Alzheimer disease, and studies in mice have tied this dysfunction to accumulations in the peripheral olfactory system of certain soluble amyloid-ß (Aß) oligomers (key biomarkers of the disease). Based on these findings, investigators examined soluble proteins in nasal discharge from 39 patients assessed with the Mini-Mental State examination and other measures who showed mild or moderate cognitive decline (presumably due to Alzheimer disease) and compared them with 21 healthy age-matched controls.
Two types of soluble Aß oligomers, 12-mer Aβ*56 and 15-mer AβO, were elevated in patients. Those with mild versus moderate cognitive decline could be distinguished: patients with mild decline had higher levels of Aβ*…