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60/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 60 out of 100. Vascular contributions

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Objective The relation between inflammation and brain MRI findings in the elderly remains poorly known. We investigated the association of circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels with baseline and longitudinal white matter hyperintensities (WMH), silent brain infarction, and brain volumes in community-dwelling elderly free of dementia. Methods We included 1,841 participants aged 65 to 80 years from the Three City-Dijon cohort. Participants followed an MRI examination at baseline and after a 4-year follow-up (n = 1,316). IL-6 and CRP concentrations were measured at baseline from fasting blood samples. WMH were detected with an automatic imaging processing method and gray matter, hippocampal, white matter, and CSF volumes were estimated with voxel-based morphometry. Silent brain infarctions were assessed visually and defined as focal lesions of ≥3 mm in the absence of stroke. We used analysis of covariance and logistic regression to model the associations between inflammatory biomarkers and brain MRI findings adjusting for potential confounders. Results In cross-sectional analyses, higher IL-6 levels were associated with higher WMH volumes (p < 0.01), lower gray matter (p = 0.001) and hippocampal (p = 0.01) volumes, and increasing CSF volumes (p = 0.002) in a dose-relationship pattern. Similar but weaker relations were observed for CRP. We observed no associations between baseline inflammatory biomarker levels and the evolution of MRI findings over 4 years. Conclusions IL-6, and, to a lesser degree, CRP levels were associated with WMH severity as well as global markers of brain atrophy. These results suggest that an inflammatory process may be involved in both age-associated brain alterations.

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APA 7th

Satizabal, C. L., Zhu, Y. C., Mazoyer, B., Dufouil, C., & Tzourio, C. (2012). Circulating IL-6 and CRP are associated with MRI findings in the elderly: the 3C-Dijon Study. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e318248e50f

Vancouver

Satizabal CL, Zhu YC, Mazoyer B, Dufouil C, Tzourio C. Circulating IL-6 and CRP are associated with MRI findings in the elderly: the 3C-Dijon Study. Neurology. 2012. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e318248e50f. PMID: 22357713.

BibTeX

@article{satizabal2012-22357713,
  author  = {Satizabal, C. L. and Zhu, Y. C. and Mazoyer, B. and Dufouil, C. and Tzourio, C.},
  title   = {{Circulating IL-6 and CRP are associated with MRI findings in the elderly: the 3C-Dijon Study}},
  journal = {Neurology},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e318248e50f},
  pmid    = {22357713},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e318248e50f}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a cross-sectional study. Everyone is measured once, so it cannot show which came first. Read it as a snapshot of how two things go together at one moment.
Size: the record lists 1,316 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded moderate. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Moderate means the abstract mentions a cohort, case-control or longitudinal design. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Results In cross-sectional analyses, higher IL-6 levels were associated with higher WMH volumes (p < 0.01), lower gray matter (p = 0.001) and hippocampal (p = 0.01) volumes, and increasing CSF volumes (p = 0.002) in a dose-relationship pattern.
We observed no associations between baseline inflammatory biomarker levels and the evolution of MRI findings over 4 years.
Conclusions IL-6, and, to a lesser degree, CRP levels were associated with WMH severity as well as global markers of brain atrophy.
These results suggest that an inflammatory process may be involved in both age-associated brain alterations.

Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants1,316
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 60/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported 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 35 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 60 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
Strength of evidence	3 / 5	Rated “moderate” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	1,316 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)
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 22357713)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	35 / 58	Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 35 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 60 out of 100.
Total	60 / 100	—

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