Biomarkers for dementia in Latin American countries : gaps and opportunities

Parra, Mario A. and Orellana, Paulina and Leon, Tomas and Cabello G., Victoria and Henriquez, Fernando and Gomez, Rodrigo and Avalos, Constanza and Damian, Andres and Slachevsky, Andrea and Ibañez, Agustin and Zetterberg, Henrik and Tijms, Betty M. and Yokoyama, Jennifer S. and Piña-Escudero, Stefanie D. and Cochran, J. Nicholas and Matallana, Diana L and Acosta, Daisy and Allegri, Ricardo and Arias-Suárez, Bianca P. and Barra, Bernardo and Behrens, Maria Isabel and Brucki, Sonia M. D. and Busatto, Geraldo and Caramelli, Paulo and Castro-Suarez, Sheila and Contreras, Valeria and Custodio, Nilton and Dansilio, Sergio and De la Cruz-Puebla, Myriam and de Souza, Leonardo Cruz and Diaz, Monica M. and Duque, Lissette and Farías, Gonzalo A. and Ferreira, Sergio T. and Guimet, Nahuel Magrath and Kmaid, Ana and Lira, David and Lopera, Francisco and Meza, Beatriz Mar and Miotto, Eliane C and Nuñez, Alberto and O'neill, Santiago and Ochoa, John and Pintado-Caipa, Maritza and de Paula França Resende, Elisa and Risacher, Shannon and Rojas, Luz Angela and Sabaj, Valentina and Schilling, Lucas and Sellek, Allis F. and Sosa, Ana and Takada, Leonel T. and Teixeira, Antonio L. and Unaucho-Pilalumbo, Martha and Duran-Aniotz, Claudia (2023) Biomarkers for dementia in Latin American countries : gaps and opportunities. Alzheimer's and Dementia, 19 (2). pp. 721-735. ISSN 1552-5279 (https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12757)

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Abstract

Limited knowledge on dementia biomarkers in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries remains a serious barrier. Here, we report on the results from an online survey completed by dementia specialists from LAC. It aims to explore the ongoing work, needs, interests, potential barriers, and opportunities for future studies related to biomarkers. The survey was answered by 48 respondents from 10 LAC countries. The results show that neuroimaging is the most commonly used biomarker (73%), followed by genetic studies (40%), peripheral fluids biomarkers (31%) and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers (29%). Regarding barriers in LAC, we identified that lack of funding appears to undermine the implementation of biomarkers in clinical or research settings, followed by insufficient infrastructure and training. The survey revealed that despite the above barriers, the region holds a great potential to advance dementia biomarkers research as the majority of respondents share an interest in the topic, would like to host studies, and confirmed access to unique populations. Considering the unique contributions that LAC could make to this growing field, we highlight the urgent need to introduce and expand biomarker research and suggest strategies to accelerate such developments. These insights allowed us to propose an action plan that addresses the recommendations towards a biomarker framework recently proposed by regional experts.

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