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36/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 36 out of 100. Drug development

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) is thought to be one of the primary factors causing neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). This protein is an amphipathic molecule that perturbs membranes, binds lipids and alters cell function. Several studies have reported that Abeta alters membrane fluidity but the direction of this effect has not been consistently observed and explanations for this lack of consistency are proposed. Cholesterol is a key component of membranes and cholesterol interacts with Abeta in a reciprocal manner. Abeta impacts on cholesterol homeostasis and modification of cholesterol levels alters Abeta expression. In addition, certain cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) appear to reduce the risk of AD in human subjects. However, the role of changes in the total amount of brain cholesterol in AD and the mechanisms of action of statins in lowering the risk of AD are unclear. Here we discuss data on membranes, cholesterol, Abeta and AD, and propose that modification of the transbilayer distribution of cholesterol in contrast to a change in the total amount of cholesterol provides a cooperative environment for Abeta synthesis and accumulation in membranes leading to cell dysfunction including disruption in cholesterol homeostasis.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Gibson Wood, W., Eckert, G. P., Igbavboa, U., & Müller, W. E. (2003). Amyloid beta-protein interactions with membranes and cholesterol: causes or casualties of Alzheimer's disease. Biochimica et biophysica acta. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-2736(03)00025-7

Vancouver

Gibson Wood W, Eckert GP, Igbavboa U, Müller WE. Amyloid beta-protein interactions with membranes and cholesterol: causes or casualties of Alzheimer's disease. Biochimica et biophysica acta. 2003. doi:10.1016/s0005-2736(03)00025-7. PMID: 12648781.

BibTeX

@article{gibsonwood2003-12648781,
  author  = {Gibson Wood, W. and Eckert, G. P. and Igbavboa, U. and Müller, W. E.},
  title   = {{Amyloid beta-protein interactions with membranes and cholesterol: causes or casualties of Alzheimer's disease}},
  journal = {Biochimica et biophysica acta},
  year    = {2003},
  doi     = {10.1016/s0005-2736(03)00025-7},
  pmid    = {12648781},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-2736(03)00025-7}
}

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How to read this study

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Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Cholesterol is a key component of membranes and cholesterol interacts with Abeta in a reciprocal manner.
Abeta impacts on cholesterol homeostasis and modification of cholesterol levels alters Abeta expression.
In addition, certain cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) appear to reduce the risk of AD in human subjects.
However, the role of changes in the total amount of brain cholesterol in AD and the mechanisms of action of statins in lowering the risk of AD are unclear.
Here we discuss data on membranes, cholesterol, Abeta and AD, and propose that modification of the transbilayer distribution of cholesterol in contrast to a change in the total amount of cholesterol provides a cooperative environment for Abeta synthesis and accumulation in membranes leading to cell dysfunction including disruption in cholesterol homeostasis.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 36/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Biochimica et biophysica acta)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
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	1 / 5	2003 — older than 20 years, still counted
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	— / 7	No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year	— / 5	No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year	— / 6	No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here	— / 6	Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited	— / 4	No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	— / 3	No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multicenter collaboration	— / 3	Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12648781)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	21 / 58	Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100.
Total	36 / 100	—

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