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35/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 35 out of 100. Treatments

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by inflammatory demyelination and axonal injury. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a central role in MS diagnosis. Recent work suggests that biomarkers indicative of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are markedly reduced in people with MS. Whether differences in AD biomarkers are related to different features of MS, including MRI characteristics or treatment history, is unclear. In this study, 100 MS patients from Washington University in St. Louis underwent review of their most recent MRI as well as their prior and present MS disease-modifying treatment (DMT) exposures. We then ascertained the relation of MRI features and DMT to plasma AD biomarker measurements, with only a small subset (N=7) demonstrating APS2+ biomarker evidence of AD. Lesion distribution across MS topographies and total white matter lesion (WML) burden were both similar across MS patients with and without biomarker evidence of AD. Central vein sign (CVS), a recently integrated imaging biomarker of MS, was highly prevalent across the MS cohort and did not differ by AD biomarker status or MS clinical typicality at diagnosis, supporting the MS diagnoses even for people with atypical initial presentations. DMT exposure history showed associations with AD biomarkers: longer exposure to B cell-depleting anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapies (BCDT) corresponded to lower levels of amyloid pathology as measured by plasma biomarkers, and longer exposure to interferon-beta corresponded to a less pathological Aβ42/40 ratio. These findings indicate that structural MRI features do not explain differences in AD biomarker profiles in MS, whereas treatment-related immunologic effects may contribute to variation in AD pathology risk in MS patients.

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APA 7th

Rodriguez, A., Judge, B., Shelley, N., Mehta, V., Friedrichsen, K. A., Strain, J. F., et al. (2026). Clinical features of older MS patients with and without Alzheimer disease biomarkers. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2026.107406

Vancouver

Rodriguez A, Judge B, Shelley N, Mehta V, Friedrichsen KA, Strain JF, et al. Clinical features of older MS patients with and without Alzheimer disease biomarkers. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. 2026. doi:10.1016/j.msard.2026.107406. PMID: 42556030.

BibTeX

@article{rodriguez2026-42556030,
  author  = {Rodriguez, Apollo and Judge, Bradley and Shelley, Nicole and Mehta, Vivek and Friedrichsen, Karl A. and Strain, Jeremy F. and Benzinger, Tammie L.S. and Schindler, Suzanne Elizabeth and others},
  title   = {{Clinical features of older MS patients with and without Alzheimer disease biomarkers}},
  journal = {Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.msard.2026.107406},
  pmid    = {42556030},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2026.107406}
}

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How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
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

Recent work suggests that biomarkers indicative of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are markedly reduced in people with MS.
These findings indicate that structural MRI features do not explain differences in AD biomarker profiles in MS, whereas treatment-related immunologic effects may contribute to variation in AD pathology risk in MS patients.

Why it matters

In 100 multiple sclerosis patients, structural MRI features such as lesion distribution and central vein sign did not differ by Alzheimer's disease biomarker status, while longer exposure to B cell-depleting anti-CD20 therapies was associated with AD biomarkers. Only a small subset of 7 patients had biomarker evidence of Alzheimer's disease, so these findings are preliminary.

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Study details

Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 35/100

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 (Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders: journal h-index 88 (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	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	5 / 5	2026 — within 1 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	0 / 7	Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026
Impact for its field and year	0 / 6	Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Matthew R. Brier: h-index 26 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42556030)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	35 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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