FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy Applied to Dementia Diagnosis Through Analysis of Biological Fluids

Article type: Review Article

Authors: Lopes, Jéssica^{a; 1} | Correia, Marta^{a; 1} | Martins, Ilka^b | Henriques, Ana Gabriela^b | Delgadillo, Ivonne^c | da Cruz e Silva, Odete^b | Nunes, Alexandra^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] iBiMED, Departamento de Ciências Médicas, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal | [b] Grupo de Neurociências e Sinalização, iBiMED, Departamento de Ciências Médicas, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal | [c] QOPNA, Departamento de Química, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Alexandra Nunes, Departamento de Ciências Médicas, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus of Santiago – Agra do Crasto (edifício 30), 3810 – 193 Aveiro, Portugal. Tel.: +351 234 370 213; E-mail: alexandranunes@ua.pt.

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: To date, it is still difficult to perform an early and accurate diagnosis of dementia, therefore significant research has focused on finding new dementia biomarkers that can aid in this respect. There is an urgent need for non-invasive, rapid, and relatively inexpensive procedures for early diagnostics. Studies have demonstrated that of spectroscopic techniques, such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopy could be a useful and accurate procedure to diagnose dementia. Given that several biochemical mechanisms related to neurodegeneration and dementia can lead to changes in plasma components and others peripheral body fluids; blood-based samples coupled to spectroscopic analyses can be used as a simple and less invasive approach.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, blood-based biomarkers, dementia diagnosis, disease fingerprint, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, metabolomic approach, Raman Spectroscopy, vibrational spectroscopy

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-151163

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 801-812, 2016