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Research

28,180 Alzheimer's and dementia studies in plain English, each scored out of 100.

Find studies

Showing 1–25 of 182 studies in Biomarkers published 2021 (page 1 of 8) · 28,180 in the whole library · How the 0–100 score works

Download bibliography of these 182 studies, in this order: BibTeX (.bib) · RIS (.ris)

Browse by subject, author or institution

Each number is how many studies that link shows, with your other filters kept.

Other subjects

Authors

Names as each record prints them; the same person can appear under two spellings.

Institutions

From OpenAlex; 13,658 studies have no institution on record and are not counted here.

What “Biomarkers” covers

Biomarkers — Measurable signals in blood, brain scans or spinal fluid that can indicate Alzheimer's changes.

A note on reading research. One study is rarely the final word.

We try to note the size of a study, whether it was in humans or animals, and how early-stage the finding is. If a summary here doesn't make that clear, treat it with extra caution and check the original source.

Effect of the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor FRM-0334 on Progranulin Levels in Patients With Progranulin Gene Haploinsufficiency: A Randomized Clinical Trial

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 84 out of 100. JAMA network open 2021-09-01

In a cross-sectional analysis of 26 individuals, bifrontal cortical FDG hypometabolism was associated with worse Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) plus National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center frontotemporal lobar degeneration sum of boxes score (b = -3.6 × 10-2 standardized uptake value ratio [SUVR] units/CDR units; 95% CI, -4.9 × 10-2 to -2.2 × 10-2; P < .001), high cerebrospinal fluid NfL (b = -9.2 × 10-5 SUVR units/pg NfL/mL; 95% CI, -1.3 × 10-4 to -5.6 × 10-5; P < .001), and high CSF t-tau (-7.2 × 10-4 SUVR units/pg t-tau/mL; 95% CI, -1.4 × 10-3 to -9.5 × 10-5; P = .03). 2 key findings →

Design: cross-sectional Participants: 27 Evidence: high

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

A trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 83 out of 100. Nature medicine 2021-06-21

Dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease (DIAD) causes predictable biological changes decades before the onset of clinical symptoms, enabling testing of interventions in the asymptomatic and symptomatic stages to delay or slow disease progression. 2 key findings →

Evidence: high

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Association between plasma neurofilament light chain levels and cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 79 out of 100. Journal of neuroimmunology 2021-07-13

This study investigated the potential association between levels of plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) and cognitive function in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) in P.R. 3 key findings →

Design: meta-analysis Participants: 168 Evidence: high

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Accuracy of Tau Positron Emission Tomography as a Prognostic Marker in Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer Disease: A Head-to-Head Comparison Against Amyloid Positron Emission Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 77 out of 100. JAMA neurology 2021-08-01

Among 1431 participants, the mean (SD) age was 71.2 (8.8) years; 751 (52.5%) were male. 2 key findings →

Design: cohort study Participants: 1,135 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Differences Between Plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Levels Across the Alzheimer Disease Continuum

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 75 out of 100. JAMA neurology 2021-12-01

This study suggests that plasma GFAP is a sensitive biomarker for detecting and tracking reactive astrogliosis and Aβ pathology even among individuals in the early stages of AD. 5 key findings →

Design: cross-sectional Participants: 300 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Longitudinal Associations of Blood Phosphorylated Tau181 and Neurofilament Light Chain With Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer Disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 75 out of 100. JAMA neurology 2021-04-01

Exclusion criteria included any significant neurologic disorder other than suspected AD; presence of infection, infarction, or multiple lacunes as detected by magnetic resonance imaging; and any significant systemic condition that could lead to difficulty complying with the protocol. 3 key findings →

Design: cohort study Participants: 1,113 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Association of plasma P-tau181 with memory decline in non-demented adults

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 74 out of 100. Brain communications 2021-06-14

Mixed-effect models assessed rates of memory decline in relation to baseline plasma p-tau181, and whether plasma p-tau181 significantly predicted memory decline beyond widely available clinical and genetic data (age, sex, years of education, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, and APOE ε 4 status). 5 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 604 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Association of weight change with cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and amyloid positron emission tomography in preclinical Alzheimer's disease

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 74 out of 100. Alzheimer's research & therapy 2021-02-17

Weight loss predicts AD CSF and PET biomarker results and may occur downstream to amyloid-β accumulation in preclinical AD, paralleling cognitive decline. 5 key findings →

Design: cohort study Participants: 2,743 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Association of Midlife Plasma Amyloid-β Levels With Cognitive Impairment in Late Life: The ARIC Neurocognitive Study

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 74 out of 100. Neurology 2021-08-04

Midlife measurement of plasma Aβ may have utility as a blood-based biomarker indicative of risk for future cognitive impairment. 4 key findings →

Design: cohort study Participants: 2,284 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Plasma markers predict changes in amyloid, tau, atrophy and cognition in non-demented subjects

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 71 out of 100. Brain : a journal of neurology 2021-10-01

It is currently unclear whether plasma biomarkers can be used as independent prognostic tools to predict changes associated with early Alzheimer's disease. 4 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 123 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Amyloid-driven disruption of default mode network connectivity in cognitively healthy individuals

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 71 out of 100. Brain communications 2021-09-06

We demonstrated that higher amyloid burden as measured by both CSF amyloid beta 42/40 ratio and non-displaceable binding potential in the posterior cingulate cortex was associated with lower functional connectivity in the default mode network. 3 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 173 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Association of plasma P-tau181 with memory decline in non-demented adults

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 71 out of 100. Brain Communications 2021-06-14

Mixed-effect models assessed rates of memory decline in relation to baseline plasma p-tau181, and whether plasma p-tau181 significantly predicted memory decline beyond widely available clinical and genetic data (age, sex, years of education, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, and APOEε4 status). 5 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 604 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Ultrasensitive assays for detection of plasma tau and phosphorylated tau 181 in Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 71 out of 100. Translational neurodegeneration 2021-03-12

A lack of convenient and reliable biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis is a common challenge for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). 1 key finding →

Design: meta-analysis Evidence: high

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Objective subtle cognitive decline and plasma phosphorylated tau181: Early markers of Alzheimer's disease-related declines

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 71 out of 100. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 2021-10-14

Despite assumptions that cognitive changes invariably follow biomarker changes, early neuropsychological difficulties may emerge before/concurrently with plasma p-tau181 changes. 2 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 402 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein detects Alzheimer pathology and predicts future conversion to Alzheimer dementia in patients with mild cognitive impairment

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 68 out of 100. Alzheimer's research & therapy 2021-03-27

Baseline plasma GFAP could detect abnormal CSF Aβ42/40 and CSF Aβ42/T-tau with an AUC of 0.79 (95% CI 0.72-0.86) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.72-0.86), respectively. 3 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Validation of Plasma Amyloid-β 42/40 for Detecting Alzheimer Disease Amyloid Plaques

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 67 out of 100. Neurology 2021-12-14

Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 is a robust measure for detecting amyloid plaques and can be utilized to aid in the diagnosis of AD, identify those at risk for future dementia due to AD, and improve the diversity of populations enrolled in AD research and clinical trials. 3 key findings →

Participants: 465 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Serum markers glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light for prognosis and monitoring in cognitively normal older people: a prospective memory clinic-based cohort study

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 67 out of 100. The lancet. Healthy longevity 2021-01-19

Both high baseline GFAP (hazard ratio 3·6, 95% CI 2·2-5·7; p 42/40 , both GFAP (2·6, 1·4-5·0; p=0·0026) and amyloid β 42/40 (2·1, 1·2-3·6; p=0·0091) were independently associated with incident dementia whereas NfL was not (1·4, 0·8-2·5; p=0·28). 2 key findings →

Design: cohort study Participants: 300 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source Free full text

Blood biomarkers for the diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 67 out of 100. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2021-07-07

The development of blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology as tools for screening the general population is essential, but persists controversies. 2 key findings →

Design: meta-analysis Evidence: high

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

Alzheimer's cerebrospinal biomarkers from Lumipulse fully automated immunoassay: concordance with amyloid-beta PET and manual immunoassay in Koreans : CSF AD biomarkers measured by Lumipulse in Koreans

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 67 out of 100. Alzheimer's research & therapy 2021-01-12

Cognitive and neuropsychological scores differed significantly among the groups, with descending performance among CN>SCD>MCI>AD. 4 key findings →

Design: longitudinal study Participants: 128 Evidence: moderate

Full summary, score breakdown and related studies → Original source

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Where “Free full text” comes from

Free full text links and the Full text may need a subscription label come from Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex records of free copies, checked 10 Oct 2026. A study with neither is unknown, not paywalled. Show only studies that are free to read

How the 0–100 score works — and why some entries are capped

This is alzhub's own score. It is not an official metric, not an impact factor, and no journal, publisher or ranking body endorses it. We built it so that a reader who is not a scientist can tell a landmark trial from a conference abstract without having to already know the difference. Every point comes from one of 20 components, all of them printed on the study itself, so you can disagree with our arithmetic rather than having to trust the total.

  • Journal tier up to 10 pts
  • Journal's citation record up to 4 pts
  • Study design up to 12 pts
  • Strength of evidence up to 5 pts
  • Peer-review validation up to 10 pts
  • How recent up to 5 pts
  • Sample size up to 4 pts
  • Effect reported up to 3 pts
  • Studied in people up to 3 pts
  • Randomised / blinded up to 2 pts
  • Times cited up to 7 pts
  • Citations per year up to 5 pts
  • Impact for its field and year up to 6 pts
  • Cited by studies here up to 6 pts
  • Still being cited up to 4 pts
  • Senior author's track record up to 4 pts
  • Institution's track record up to 3 pts
  • Multi-centre collaboration up to 3 pts
  • Indexed in PubMed up to 2 pts
  • Free to read up to 2 pts

Journals are placed in ordered tiers, never given a numeric impact factor — we could not verify current impact factors from a source we control, and an invented one would be worse than none. Tier 1 is the top-tier general journals (NEJM, The Lancet, JAMA, Nature, Science, Nature Medicine); tier 2 is the leading specialty journals; tier 3 is every other peer-reviewed journal. A separate part scores how much the journal's own papers are cited, which tells the tier-3 journals apart.

Two rules we don't bend. First, we never fill in a missing value: if a record does not state a sample size or a design, that component scores zero, and if we simply have no data for a part, such as a citation count, that part is left out and the study is scored on the parts we could check. The study card says which. Second, anything that is not a peer-reviewed article is capped at 16/100 and carries a warning chip — so a conference abstract or a company press release can never outrank a peer-reviewed paper, no matter how good it looks.

We rank a rigorous null result — a good trial showing that something does not work — above an early positive finding. Someone deciding whether to buy a supplement is served by that, and the rigour is already counted by the design and journal components.

The score is computed from the published data alone and is reproducible: the same file always yields the same numbers.

See the whole rubric drawn out → — four charts covering all 28,180 studies: how the scores are spread and where the cap bites, which of the 20 components the library is strong and weak on, which subjects rest on stronger evidence, and what kinds of study each subject is actually built from.

What this library is — and isn't

This is a large sample of the Alzheimer's literature, not an exhaustive index of it. It holds 28,180 records, built mostly from automated pulls of Europe PMC (61.7% of the library) and OpenAlex (18.1%), plus smaller pulls from PubMed, Crossref and medRxiv. If a study, a drug, or a finding isn't here, that is not evidence it doesn't exist in the literature — it may simply not have been pulled in yet.

1,034 records (3.7% of the library) are not peer-reviewed — 962 of those are preprints posted before any journal review, and the rest are conference abstracts, regulatory notices and reports. Every study card on this page states its status plainly, and the score above is capped for anything that isn't a peer-reviewed article.

See the full, machine-readable breakdown of this library's coverage →

Newest studies, as a dated timeline →    Atom feed