Precision medicine and neurodegenerative diseases: Advanced diagnostic and treatment systems for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Over the past decades, advances in medicine have significantly improved both quality of life and life expectancy. However, these positive effects are also associated with a considerable increase in the prevalence of age-related diseases. Among these, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and type 2 diabetes (T2D) now represent a true threat to human health.

PD and AD are the most widespread neurodegenerative diseases in industrialized populations. In particular, AD accounts for 54% of all dementias, with a prevalence of 4.4% among individuals over 65. PD has a prevalence of about 1% in people over 60 years of age, reaching up to 4% in those over 80.

AD and PD are highly disabling conditions, characterized by slow but progressive evolution, caused by the degeneration and/or death of nerve cells. This results in impaired motor control and balance, as in the case of PD, or impaired cognitive function, as in AD. To date, neither effective treatments nor early diagnostic tools are available to address these diseases during the initial phase of degeneration, nor are there tools capable of monitoring disease progression and improving patient adaptation to therapy.

Furthermore, although the association between T2D and the risk of PD and/or AD has been known for some time, these conditions have long been considered unrelated. Recent evidence from clinical and epidemiological studies suggests the existence of common and shared pathophysiological mechanisms linked to insulin resistance and persistent inflammation in several metabolically relevant tissues, such as adipose tissue and the brain. However, the mechanisms that increase the risk of PD and/or AD in individuals with T2D remain poorly understood.

These data highlight how significant these diseases are for the healthcare system of our country and confirm that they represent one of the most urgent priorities to address—certainly requiring substantial investments in both scientific research and early diagnostics. Therefore, this project proposal, which aims to develop new minimally invasive tools for early prediction and monitoring of the neurodegenerative diseases AD and PD, will help fill an important gap in the clinical and therapeutic management of these patients.

Funding: Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy – MIMIT – Sustainable Growth Fund

ICAR cost: €948,114.47
ICAR funding: €728,146.47
Duration: 36 months
Start date: October 1, 2024
End date: September 30, 2027
Application area: Healthcare and Life Sciences
Project Coordinator at ICAR: Francesco Gargiulo
Administrative Manager for ICAR: Roberta Ammendola
Reference group: Language and Knowledge Engineering
Partners: Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed S.p.A., University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, National Research Council (ICAR, IGB, IEOMI)
Website: Not available