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Cerebrospinal fluid protein biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease
Blennow K.. NeuroRx : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 2004-04-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Plain-language summary
The introduction of acetylcholine esterase (AChE) inhibitors as a symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has made patients seek medical advice at an earlier stage of the disease. This has highlighted the importance of diagnostic markers for early AD. However, there is no clinical method to determine which of the patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) will progress to AD with dementia, and which have a benign form of MCI without progression. In this paper, the performance of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein biomarkers for AD is reviewed. The diagnostic performance of the three biomarkers, total tau, phospho-tau, and the 42 amino acid form of beta-amyloid have been evaluated in numerous studies and their ability to identify incipient AD in MCI cases has also been studied. Some candidate AD biomarkers including ubiquitin, neurofilament proteins, growth-associated protein 43 (neuromodulin), and neuronal thread protein (AD7c) show interesting results but have been less extensively studied. It is concluded that CSF biomarkers may have clinical utility in the differentiation between AD and several important differential diagnoses, including normal aging, depression, alcohol dementia, and Parkinson's disease, and also in the identification of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in cases with rapidly progressive dementia. Early diagnosis of AD is not only of importance to be able to initiate symptomatic treatment with AChE inhibitors, but will be the basis for initiation of treatment with drugs aimed at slowing down or arresting the degenerative process, such as gamma-secretase inhibitors, if these prove to affect AD pathology and to have a clinical effect.
What this study adds
Evidence grade: Low
This is a narrative review. This review found that cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers such as total tau, phospho-tau, and beta-amyloid can help tell Alzheimer's disease apart from several other conditions. It also noted that some other candidate biomarkers have shown interesting results but have been studied much less.
Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Blennow, K. (2004). Cerebrospinal fluid protein biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. NeuroRx : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics. https://doi.org/10.1602/neurorx.1.2.213
Vancouver
Blennow K. Cerebrospinal fluid protein biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. NeuroRx : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics. 2004. doi:10.1602/neurorx.1.2.213. PMID: 15717022.
BibTeX
@article{blennow2004-15717022,
author = {Blennow, K.},
title = {{Cerebrospinal fluid protein biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {NeuroRx : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1602/neurorx.1.2.213},
pmid = {15717022},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1602/neurorx.1.2.213}
}
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
- Some candidate AD biomarkers including ubiquitin, neurofilament proteins, growth-associated protein 43 (neuromodulin), and neuronal thread protein (AD7c) show interesting results but have been less extensively studied.
- It is concluded that CSF biomarkers may have clinical utility in the differentiation between AD and several important differential diagnoses, including normal aging, depression, alcohol dementia, and Parkinson's disease, and also in the identification of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in cases with rapidly progressive dementia.
Why it matters
This review found that cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers such as total tau, phospho-tau, and beta-amyloid can help tell Alzheimer's disease apart from several other conditions. It also noted that some other candidate biomarkers have shown interesting results but have been studied much less.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
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 (NeuroRx : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | NeuroRx: journal h-index 78 (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 | 2004 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| 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 477 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 19.9 citations a year over 24 year(s) since 2004 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 32 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 28 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Kaj Blennow: h-index 220 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Gothenburg: institution h-index 972 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15717022) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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