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Can agrin cerebrospinal fluid concentration be used as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease?
Marta Del Campo Milan, Leah Zuroff, Connie R Jimenez, Philip Scheltens, Charlotte E Teunissen. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2015-03-29
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
The need for effective treatments halting Alzheimer's disease (AD) urges the discovery of the earliest possible biomarkers. Agrin is increased in the early stages of AD and is involved in amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrillation and synaptogenesis. We investigated the potential of agrin as an early AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker. We analyzed the agrin CSF concentration in nondemented controls (n = 20) and those with mild (n = 20) and severe (n = 20) AD. The levels of agrin CSF were not significantly divergent among the different patient groups and did not correlate with the concentration of Aβ42, total tau, phosphorylated tau, or the Mini Mental State Examination scores. However, agrin strongly correlated with age in those with dementia. The results indicate that agrin cannot be used as an early AD CSF biomarker using the current immunoassay. However, our population was relatively young; thus, the correlation between agrin and age suggests that stronger differences in agrin concentrations might be found in older groups with more heterogeneous AD pathologic features.
Key findings
- The levels of agrin CSF were not significantly divergent among the different patient groups and did not correlate with the concentration of Aβ42, total tau, phosphorylated tau, or the Mini Mental State Examination scores.
- The results indicate that agrin cannot be used as an early AD CSF biomarker using the current immunoassay.
- However, our population was relatively young; thus, the correlation between agrin and age suggests that stronger differences in agrin concentrations might be found in older groups with more heterogeneous AD pathologic features.
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Study details
- Participants20
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
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 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, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 27 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 48 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)) |
| 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 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 20 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 | — / 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 |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27239494) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 27 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 27 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 48 out of 100. |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Milan, M. D. C., Zuroff, L., Jimenez, C. R., Scheltens, P., & Teunissen, C. E. (2015). Can agrin cerebrospinal fluid concentration be used as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease? Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2014.11.008
Vancouver
Milan MDC, Zuroff L, Jimenez CR, Scheltens P, Teunissen CE. Can agrin cerebrospinal fluid concentration be used as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease? Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 2015. doi:10.1016/j.dadm.2014.11.008. PMID: 27239494.
BibTeX
@article{milan2015-27239494,
author = {Milan, Marta Del Campo and Zuroff, Leah and Jimenez, Connie R and Scheltens, Philip and Teunissen, Charlotte E},
title = {{Can agrin cerebrospinal fluid concentration be used as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease?}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1016/j.dadm.2014.11.008},
pmid = {27239494},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2014.11.008}
}
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