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53/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. TREM2 and immune genetics

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is characterized by the abnormal accumulation of amyloid plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates, as well as microgliosis. Hemizygous missense variants in Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 2 ( TREM2 ) are associated with elevated risk for developing late-onset AD. These variants are hypothesized to result in loss of function, mimicking TREM2 haploinsufficiency.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Sayed, F. A., Telpoukhovskaia, M., Kodama, L., Li, Y., Zhou, Y., Le, D., et al. (2018). Differential effects of partial and complete loss of TREM2 on microglial injury response and tauopathy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811411115

Vancouver

Sayed FA, Telpoukhovskaia M, Kodama L, Li Y, Zhou Y, Le D, et al. Differential effects of partial and complete loss of TREM2 on microglial injury response and tauopathy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2018. doi:10.1073/pnas.1811411115. PMID: 30232263.

BibTeX

@article{sayed2018-30232263,
  author  = {Sayed, F. A. and Telpoukhovskaia, M. and Kodama, L. and Li, Y. and Zhou, Y. and Le, D. and Hauduc, A. and Ludwig, C. and others},
  title   = {{Differential effects of partial and complete loss of TREM2 on microglial injury response and tauopathy}},
  journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
  year    = {2018},
  doi     = {10.1073/pnas.1811411115},
  pmid    = {30232263},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811411115}
}

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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.
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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 low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. 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

Hemizygous missense variants in Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 2 ( TREM2 ) are associated with elevated risk for developing late-onset AD.
These variants are hypothesized to result in loss of function, mimicking TREM2 haploinsufficiency.
However, the consequences of TREM2 haploinsufficiency on tau pathology and microglial function remain unknown.
We report the effects of partial and complete loss of TREM2 on microglial function and tau-associated deficits.

Why it matters

This study examined the effects of partial and complete loss of TREM2 on microglial function and tau-related deficits, testing the idea that risk variants act through loss of function. It is experimental work and does not establish a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 53/100

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 (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: journal h-index 1,167 (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	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	5 / 7	Cited 230 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	23.0 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 7.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	4 / 6	Cited by 38 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 69 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Li Gan: h-index 71 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University of California, Los Angeles: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30232263)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	53 / 100	—

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

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