Home › Research › Biomarkers
Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain protein levels in subtypes of frontotemporal dementia
Landqvist Waldö M, Frizell Santillo A, Passant U, Zetterberg H, Rosengren L, Nilsson C, Englund E.. BMC neurology, 2013-05-29
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Background Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is recognised as a clinically and morphologically heterogeneous group of interrelated neurodegenerative conditions. One of the subtypes within this disease spectrum is the behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD). This is known to be a varied disorder with a mixture of tau-positive and tau-negative underlying pathologies. The other subtypes include semantic dementia (SD), which generally exhibits tau-negative pathology, and progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA), which is usually tau-positive. As the clinical presentation of these subtypes may overlap, a specific diagnosis can be difficult to attain and today no specific biomarker can predict the underlying pathology. Neurofilament light chain protein (NFL), a cytoskeletal constituent of intermediate filaments, is thought to reflect neuronal and axonal death when appearing in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). NFL has been shown to be elevated in CSF in patients with FTD compared with AD and controls. Our hypothesis was that the levels of NFL also differ between the subtypes of FTD and may indicate the underlying pathological subtype. Methods We retrospectively analysed data from previous CSF analyses in 34 FTD cases (23 bvFTD, seven SD, four PNFA), 20 AD cases, and 26 healthy controls. A separate group of 10 neuropathologically verified and subtyped FTD cases (seven tau-negative, three tau-positive) were also analysed. Result NFL levels were significantly higher in FTD compared with both AD (p<0.001) and controls (p<0.001). The NFL levels of SD and bvFTD were significantly higher (p<0.001) compared with AD. The biomarker profiles of PNFA and AD were similar. In the neuropathologically verified FTD cases, NFL was higher in the tau-negative than in the tau-positive cases (exact p=0.017). Conclusions The marked NFL elevation in some but not all FTD cases is likely to reflect the different underlying pathologies. The highest NFL values found in the SD group as well as in the neuropathologically verified tau-negative cases may be of subtype diagnostic value, if corroborated in larger patient cohorts. In bvFTD, a mixture of tau-positive and tau-negative underlying pathologies could possibly explain the intermediate NFL values.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Landqvist Waldö, M., Frizell Santillo, A., Passant, U., Zetterberg, H., Rosengren, L., Nilsson, C., et al. (2013). Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain protein levels in subtypes of frontotemporal dementia. BMC neurology. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-13-54
Vancouver
Landqvist Waldö M, Frizell Santillo A, Passant U, Zetterberg H, Rosengren L, Nilsson C, et al. Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain protein levels in subtypes of frontotemporal dementia. BMC neurology. 2013. doi:10.1186/1471-2377-13-54. PMID: 23718879.
BibTeX
@article{landqvistwaldo2013-23718879,
author = {Landqvist Waldö, M. and Frizell Santillo, A. and Passant, U. and Zetterberg, H. and Rosengren, L. and Nilsson, C. and Englund, E.},
title = {{Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain protein levels in subtypes of frontotemporal dementia}},
journal = {BMC neurology},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1186/1471-2377-13-54},
pmid = {23718879},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-13-54}
}
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 names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- NFL has been shown to be elevated in CSF in patients with FTD compared with AD and controls.
- Result NFL levels were significantly higher in FTD compared with both AD (p<0.001) and controls (p<0.001).
- The NFL levels of SD and bvFTD were significantly higher (p<0.001) compared with AD.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
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. 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 and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC neurology) |
| 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 | 2013 — 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 | — / 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 |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 23718879) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Biomarkers
Also tagged “chain-protein”
2 studies in the library carry the topic tag “chain-protein”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 2 tagged studies.