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Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases
Oskar Hansson. Nature Medicine, 2021-06-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
This review presents an overview of the latest advances in the field of biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. It discusses how positron emission tomography and blood-based biomarkers detect Alzheimer's disease pathologies, alongside emerging markers for Parkinson's disease. Additionally, it explores future directions regarding the implementation of novel biomarkers in clinical practice and trials.
Key findings
- Positron emission tomography methods detecting amyloid-β and tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease have been increasingly used to improve the design of clinical trials and observational studies.
- In recent years, easily accessible and cost-effective blood-based biomarkers detecting the same Alzheimer's disease pathologies have been developed, which might revolutionize the diagnostic workup of Alzheimer's disease globally.
- Relevant biomarkers for α-synuclein pathology in Parkinson's disease are also emerging, as well as blood-based markers of general neurodegeneration and glial activation.
Why it matters
This review describes how PET scans and newer, cheaper blood tests can detect the amyloid-beta and tau changes of Alzheimer's disease. Better detection helps design clinical trials and could make diagnosis more widely available, but the review itself does not test a treatment.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
How this study scored 60/100
Published in a top-tier journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on strength of evidence, so that was left out: it earned 57 of the 95 points we could judge it on, which is 60 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Nature Medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Nature Medicine: journal h-index 763 (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 | — / 5 | No evidence rating recorded — left out of this score |
| 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 | 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) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 1,150 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 164.3 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 84.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 775 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 | 1 / 3 | Lund University: institution h-index 1,119 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34083813) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 57 / 95 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 57 of the 95 points we could judge it on is 60 out of 100. |
| Total | 60 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hansson, O. (2021). Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01382-x
Vancouver
Hansson O. Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. Nature Medicine. 2021. doi:10.1038/s41591-021-01382-x. PMID: 34083813.
BibTeX
@article{hansson2021-34083813,
author = {Hansson, Oskar},
title = {{Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases}},
journal = {Nature Medicine},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1038/s41591-021-01382-x},
pmid = {34083813},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01382-x}
}
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