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A multicentre validation study of the diagnostic value of plasma neurofilament light
Ashton NJ, Janelidze S, Al Khleifat A, Leuzy A, van der Ende EL, Karikari TK, Benedet AL, Pascoal TA et al.. Nature communications, 2021-06-07
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Increased cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light (NfL) is a recognized biomarker for neurodegeneration that can also be assessed in blood. Here, we investigate plasma NfL as a marker of neurodegeneration in 13 neurodegenerative disorders, Down syndrome, depression and cognitively unimpaired controls from two multicenter cohorts: King's College London (n = 805) and the Swedish BioFINDER study (n = 1,464). Plasma NfL was significantly increased in all cortical neurodegenerative disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and atypical parkinsonian disorders. We demonstrate that plasma NfL is clinically useful in identifying atypical parkinsonian disorders in patients with parkinsonism, dementia in individuals with Down syndrome, dementia among psychiatric disorders, and frontotemporal dementia in patients with cognitive impairment. Data-driven cut-offs highlighted the fundamental importance of age-related clinical cut-offs for disorders with a younger age of onset. Finally, plasma NfL performs best when applied to indicate no underlying neurodegeneration, with low false positives, in all age-related cut-offs.
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APA 7th
Ashton, N. J., Janelidze, S., Al Khleifat, A., Leuzy, A., van der Ende, E. L., Karikari, T. K., et al. (2021). A multicentre validation study of the diagnostic value of plasma neurofilament light. Nature communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23620-z
Vancouver
Ashton NJ, Janelidze S, Al Khleifat A, Leuzy A, van der Ende EL, Karikari TK, et al. A multicentre validation study of the diagnostic value of plasma neurofilament light. Nature communications. 2021. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23620-z. PMID: 34099648.
BibTeX
@article{ashton2021-34099648,
author = {Ashton, N. J. and Janelidze, S. and Al Khleifat, A. and Leuzy, A. and van der Ende, E. L. and Karikari, T. K. and Benedet, A. L. and Pascoal, T. A. and others},
title = {{A multicentre validation study of the diagnostic value of plasma neurofilament light}},
journal = {Nature communications},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-021-23620-z},
pmid = {34099648},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23620-z}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Plasma NfL was significantly increased in all cortical neurodegenerative disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and atypical parkinsonian disorders.
Why it matters
Across 2,269 people in two cohorts (King's College London and Sweden's BioFINDER), a blood marker of nerve-cell damage, plasma neurofilament light (NfL), was raised in all cortical neurodegenerative disorders, ALS and atypical parkinsonian disorders. That means a high level signals neurodegeneration in general, not Alzheimer's in particular. The authors found it useful for specific questions, such as spotting dementia in people with Down syndrome or separating dementia from psychiatric illness, and found it worked best for ruling out neurodegeneration, provided age-appropriate cut-offs are used. It is a diagnostic test study and does not treat or prevent any of these conditions.
Study details
- Participants805
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 71/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature communications) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Nature Communications: journal h-index 747 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 805 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 547 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 78.1 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 58.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 44 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 312 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Oskar Hansson: h-index 148 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | National Institutes of Health: institution h-index 2,723 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 36 institution(s) in 8 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34099648) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 71 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23620-z
- PubMed: 34099648
- Original source →
- Free full text: Nature Communications →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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