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Association of years to parent's sporadic onset and risk factors with neural integrity and Alzheimer biomarkers
Arenaza-Urquijo EM, Salvadó G, Operto G, Minguillón C, Sánchez-Benavides G, Crous-Bou M, Grau-Rivera O, Sala-Vila A et al.. Neurology, 2020-07-31
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objective To evaluate the hypothesis that proximity to parental age at onset (AAO) in sporadic Alzheimer disease (AD) is associated with greater AD and neural injury biomarker alterations during midlife and to assess the role of nonmodifiable and modifiable factors. Methods This observational study included 290 cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants with a family history (FH) of clinically diagnosed sporadic AD (age 49-73 years) from the Alzheimer's and Families (ALFA) study. [ 18 F]flutemetamol-PET standardized uptake value ratios, CSF β-amyloid 42/40 ratio, and phosphorylated tau were used as AD biomarkers. Hippocampal volumes and CSF total tau were used as neural injury biomarkers.
Key findings
- Methods This observational study included 290 cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants with a family history (FH) of clinically diagnosed sporadic AD (age 49-73 years) from the Alzheimer's and Families (ALFA) study. [ 18 F]flutemetamol-PET standardized uptake value ratios, CSF β-amyloid 42/40 ratio, and phosphorylated tau were used as AD biomarkers.
- Hippocampal volumes and CSF total tau were used as neural injury biomarkers.
- Mental and vascular health proxies were calculated.
- In multiple regression models, we assessed the effect of proximity to parental AAO and its interaction with age on AD and neural injury biomarkers.
Why it matters
In 290 cognitively unimpaired adults with a family history of sporadic Alzheimer's disease, this study examined whether being closer to a parent's age at onset was linked to Alzheimer's and nerve injury biomarkers in midlife. It is about risk and biomarker timing, not about treating, curing or preventing the disease.
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Study details
- Participants290
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 42/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 40 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 42 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (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 | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 290 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 | 2 / 7 | Cited 6 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.8 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Gothenburg: institution h-index 972 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32737076) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 40 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 40 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 42 out of 100. |
| Total | 42 / 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).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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.
APA 7th
Arenaza-Urquijo, E. M., Salvadó, G., Operto, G., Minguillón, C., Sánchez-Benavides, G., Crous-Bou, M., et al. (2020). Association of years to parent's sporadic onset and risk factors with neural integrity and Alzheimer biomarkers. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000010527
Vancouver
Arenaza-Urquijo EM, Salvadó G, Operto G, Minguillón C, Sánchez-Benavides G, Crous-Bou M, et al. Association of years to parent's sporadic onset and risk factors with neural integrity and Alzheimer biomarkers. Neurology. 2020. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000010527. PMID: 32737076.
BibTeX
@article{arenazaurquijo2020-32737076,
author = {Arenaza-Urquijo, E. M. and Salvadó, G. and Operto, G. and Minguillón, C. and Sánchez-Benavides, G. and Crous-Bou, M. and Grau-Rivera, O. and Sala-Vila, A. and others},
title = {{Association of years to parent's sporadic onset and risk factors with neural integrity and Alzheimer biomarkers}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000010527},
pmid = {32737076},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000010527}
}
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