This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

47/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 47 out of 100. Inflammation and the immune system

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurological disorder characterized by loss of cognitive skills and progressive dementia. The pathological hallmark of AD is the presence of numerous senile plaques throughout the hippocampus and cerebral cortex associated with degenerating axons, neurofibrillary tangles, and gliosis. The core of the senile plaque primarily is composed of the 39-43 amino acid beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta), which forms fibrils of beta-pleated sheets.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

This laboratory study describes how beta-amyloid fibrils activate signaling and superoxide production in microglia, but it states that a direct causal link between beta-amyloid and Alzheimer's disease remains to be established. It offers no treatment, cure or prevention.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

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

APA 7th

McDonald, D. R., Brunden, K. R., & Landreth, G. E. (1997). Amyloid fibrils activate tyrosine kinase-dependent signaling and superoxide production in microglia. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.17-07-02284.1997

Vancouver

McDonald DR, Brunden KR, Landreth GE. Amyloid fibrils activate tyrosine kinase-dependent signaling and superoxide production in microglia. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 1997. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.17-07-02284.1997. PMID: 9065490.

BibTeX

@article{mcdonald1997-9065490,
  author  = {McDonald, D. R. and Brunden, K. R. and Landreth, G. E.},
  title   = {{Amyloid fibrils activate tyrosine kinase-dependent signaling and superoxide production in microglia}},
  journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
  year    = {1997},
  doi     = {10.1523/jneurosci.17-07-02284.1997},
  pmid    = {9065490},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.17-07-02284.1997}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
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.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

The pathological hallmark of AD is the presence of numerous senile plaques throughout the hippocampus and cerebral cortex associated with degenerating axons, neurofibrillary tangles, and gliosis.
The core of the senile plaque primarily is composed of the 39-43 amino acid beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta), which forms fibrils of beta-pleated sheets.
Although considerable genetic evidence implicates Abeta in the pathogenesis of AD, a direct causal link remains to be established.
Senile plaques are foci of local inflammatory processes, as evidenced by the presence of numerous activated microglia and acute phase proteins.

Why it matters

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 47/100

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.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Journal of Neuroscience: journal h-index 651 (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	1 / 5	1997 — 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	6 / 7	Cited 317 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	10.2 citations a year over 31 year(s) since 1997
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 8.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 15 other studies in this library
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 6 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Gary E. Landreth: h-index 101 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Case Western Reserve University: institution h-index 1,159 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	0 / 3	OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete)
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 9065490)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	47 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.

Later studies that cite this one

15 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.

Related studies in Inflammation and the immune system from nearby years

Also tagged “tdp-43”

1,150 studies in the library carry the topic tag “tdp-43”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,150 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Inflammation and the immune system

See all studies in Inflammation and the immune system →