FACEHBI (Ace Healthy Brain Initiative)
És projecte unicèntric realitzat a Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona i iniciat l’any 2014, que consisteix en el seguiment longitudinal d’una cohort de 200 individus amb Deteriorament Cognitiu Subjectiu, per a l’estudi de variables clíniques, cognitives i biològiques relacionades amb el dipòsit cerebral d’amiloide i la conversió a deteriorament cognitiu lleu.
El principal biomarcador de FACEHBI és el PET-amiloide, junt amb RM cerebral, plasma, LCR i femptes. Les visites clíniques (visita basal + vuit seguiments anuals) van finalitzar a l’octubre de 2024, amb 137 participants actius.
L’estudi ha estat financiat per Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, Life Molecular Imaging, Grifols, Araclon i Laboratorios Echevarne.
The Fundació Ace Healthy Brain Initiative (FACEHBI) aims to determine the relationship between subjective memory complaints as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. The research consists of conducting annual medical follow-up of 200 clinically healthy individuals over the age of 50 who nonetheless perceive memory loss. Fundació Ace has renewed the project for an additional three years; originally launched in 2014, this makes the study one of the most comprehensive of its kind conducted to date.
The 200 FACEHBI participants undergo very comprehensive annual medical assessments, including neurological and neuropsychological examinations, magnetic resonance imaging, and blood-based biomarker analyses. These tests are complemented by well-established biomarkers for amyloid detection, such as PET imaging and tau protein analysis, among others. Another new and promising line of research initiated in recent years focuses on the gut microbiota and its influence on neurodegeneration.
Successful development
FACEHBI has been successfully developed to date. Recruitment of the 200 participants was completed in just 15 months, and the adherence rate after four years of follow-up exceeds 80%. In addition, no unforeseen events or adverse circumstances related to study procedures have occurred, and both the analytical methodology and baseline participant data have already been published in high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals.
FACEHBI, approved by the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices and the Ethics Committee of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, is driven by the aim of understanding the pathophysiological changes that occur as individuals transition from being clinically healthy to being diagnosed with cognitive impairment. This will be made possible through comparative follow-up between participants who develop Alzheimer’s disease during the study and those who do not. Acting at the earliest stages, before a dementia diagnosis, could be key to the development of drugs capable of intervening effectively in the course of the disease.