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CSF tau and β-amyloid predict cerebral synucleinopathy in autopsied Lewy body disorders
Irwin DJ, Xie SX, Coughlin D, Nevler N, Akhtar RS, McMillan CT, Lee EB, Wolk DA et al.. Neurology, 2018-02-21
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Objective To test the association of antemortem CSF biomarkers with postmortem pathology in Lewy body disorders (LBD). Methods Patients with autopsy-confirmed LBD (n = 24) and autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer disease (AD) (n = 23) and cognitively normal (n = 36) controls were studied. In LBD, neuropathologic criteria defined Lewy body α-synuclein (SYN) stages with medium/high AD copathology (SYN + AD = 10) and low/no AD copathology (SYN - AD = 14).
Key findings
- Methods Patients with autopsy-confirmed LBD (n = 24) and autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer disease (AD) (n = 23) and cognitively normal (n = 36) controls were studied.
- In LBD, neuropathologic criteria defined Lewy body α-synuclein (SYN) stages with medium/high AD copathology (SYN + AD = 10) and low/no AD copathology (SYN - AD = 14).
- Ordinal pathology scores for tau, β-amyloid (Aβ), and SYN pathology were averaged across 7 cortical regions to obtain a global cerebral score for each pathology.
- CSF total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 , and Aβ 1-42 levels were compared between LBD and control groups and correlated with global cerebral pathology scores in LBD with linear regression.
Why it matters
This study tested whether antemortem CSF biomarkers were associated with postmortem brain pathology in Lewy body disorders, using autopsy-confirmed cases and controls. It is a biomarker-pathology correlation study and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Study details
- Participants24
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (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 | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 24 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 | 4 / 7 | Cited 91 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 9.1 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 12 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 25 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author John Q. Trojanowski: h-index 255 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Philadelphia VA Medical Center: institution h-index 357 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre 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 29467305) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 51 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000005166
- PubMed: 29467305
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Irwin, D. J., Xie, S. X., Coughlin, D., Nevler, N., Akhtar, R. S., McMillan, C. T., et al. (2018). CSF tau and β-amyloid predict cerebral synucleinopathy in autopsied Lewy body disorders. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000005166
Vancouver
Irwin DJ, Xie SX, Coughlin D, Nevler N, Akhtar RS, McMillan CT, et al. CSF tau and β-amyloid predict cerebral synucleinopathy in autopsied Lewy body disorders. Neurology. 2018. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000005166. PMID: 29467305.
BibTeX
@article{irwin2018-29467305,
author = {Irwin, D. J. and Xie, S. X. and Coughlin, D. and Nevler, N. and Akhtar, R. S. and McMillan, C. T. and Lee, E. B. and Wolk, D. A. and others},
title = {{CSF tau and β-amyloid predict cerebral synucleinopathy in autopsied Lewy body disorders}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000005166},
pmid = {29467305},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000005166}
}
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