Circulating microRNAs as novel biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder. Biomarkers could help identify patients at risk and define stages of this disease. Furthermore, biomarkers can be used to evaluate the efficiency of therapeutic agents under testing and thus accelerate the therapeutic discovery process. Biological exploration of AD is currently based on the measurement of β amyloid peptides, tau and phospho-Tau proteins in cerebrospinal fluid. However, these tests have many limitations. So, the search for new biomarkers is very active. The ability of microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate neuronal processes by acting as molecular switches in combination with their region specificity make that researchers are interested in miRNAs for their potential uses as biomarkers and as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases including AD. This literature review aims to take stock of the use of circulating miRNAs as a novel biomarkers for AD.