Home › Research › Mild cognitive impairment
Brain glutathione levels--a novel biomarker for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease
Mandal PK, Saharan S, Tripathi M, Murari G.. Biological psychiatry, 2015-04-14
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background Extant data from in vivo animal models and postmortem studies indicate that Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is associated with reduction of the brain antioxidant glutathione (GSH), yet direct clinical evidence has been lacking. In this study, we investigated GSH modulation in the brain with AD and assessed the diagnostic potential of GSH estimation in hippocampi (HP) and frontal cortices (FC) as a biomarker for AD and its prodromal stage, mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods Brain GSH levels were measured in HP of 21 AD, 22 MCI, and 21 healthy old controls (HC) and FC of 19 AD, 19 MCI, and 28 HC with in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The association between GSH levels and clinical measures of AD progression was tested. Linear regression models were used to determine the best combination of GSH estimation in these brain regions for discrimination between AD, MCI, and HC. Results AD-dependent reduction of GSH was observed in both HP and FC (p Conclusions The present study provides compelling in vivo evidence that estimation of GSH levels in specific brain regions with magnetic resonance spectroscopy constitutes a clinically relevant biomarker for MCI and AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Mandal, P. K., Saharan, S., Tripathi, M., & Murari, G. (2015). Brain glutathione levels--a novel biomarker for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Biological psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.04.005
Vancouver
Mandal PK, Saharan S, Tripathi M, Murari G. Brain glutathione levels--a novel biomarker for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Biological psychiatry. 2015. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.04.005. PMID: 26003861.
BibTeX
@article{mandal2015-26003861,
author = {Mandal, P. K. and Saharan, S. and Tripathi, M. and Murari, G.},
title = {{Brain glutathione levels--a novel biomarker for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Biological psychiatry},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.04.005},
pmid = {26003861},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.04.005}
}
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.
Key findings
- Background Extant data from in vivo animal models and postmortem studies indicate that Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is associated with reduction of the brain antioxidant glutathione (GSH), yet direct clinical evidence has been lacking.
- Results AD-dependent reduction of GSH was observed in both HP and FC (p Conclusions The present study provides compelling in vivo evidence that estimation of GSH levels in specific brain regions with magnetic resonance spectroscopy constitutes a clinically relevant biomarker for MCI and AD.
Why it matters
Brain levels of the antioxidant glutathione were lower in people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, and measuring these levels with magnetic resonance spectroscopy may help identify these conditions. This points to glutathione as a possible biomarker, though the study does not show that changing glutathione levels affects the disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
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 (Biological psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Biological Psychiatry: journal h-index 428 (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 | 2015 — within 20 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 336 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 25.8 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 107 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Geetanjali Murari: h-index 6 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26003861) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 48 / 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.
Related
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
4 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Mild cognitive impairment
Also tagged “cerebrospinal”
821 studies in the library carry the topic tag “cerebrospinal”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 821 tagged studies.