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40/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 40 out of 100. TREM2 and immune genetics

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Activation of glial cells and neuroinflammation play an important role in the onset and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a microglia-specific receptor in the brain that is involved in regulating neuroinflammation. However, the precise effects of TREM2 on neuroinflammatory responses and its underlying molecular mechanisms in AD have not been studied in detail.

Key findings

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a microglia-specific receptor in the brain that is involved in regulating neuroinflammation.
However, the precise effects of TREM2 on neuroinflammatory responses and its underlying molecular mechanisms in AD have not been studied in detail.
Here, we employed a lentiviral-mediated strategy to downregulation of TREM2 expression on microglia in the brain of APPswe/PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) transgenic mice and BV2 cells.
Our results showed that downregulation of TREM2 significantly aggravated AD-related neuropathology including Aβ accumulation, peri-plaque microgliosis and astrocytosis, as well as neuronal and synapse-associated proteins loss, which was accompanied by a decline in cognitive ability.

Why it matters

In a mouse model, lowering TREM2 worsened neuroinflammatory responses through a TLR4-mediated pathway. This is animal research and does not yet show a treatment for people.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 40/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Molecular immunology)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Molecular Immunology: journal h-index 180 (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	3 / 5	2022 — within 6 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	Laboratory or animal study (title names “transgenic”) — scores zero
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 55 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	9.2 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 1.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 5 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 41 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Weina Yang: h-index 24 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Xi'an Jiaotong University: institution h-index 666 (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 34959070)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	40 / 100	—

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

Read the original

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

Ruganzu, J. B., Peng, X., He, Y., Wu, X., Zheng, Q., Ding, B., et al. (2022). Downregulation of TREM2 expression exacerbates neuroinflammatory responses through TLR4-mediated MAPK signaling pathway in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Molecular immunology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molimm.2021.12.018

Vancouver

Ruganzu JB, Peng X, He Y, Wu X, Zheng Q, Ding B, et al. Downregulation of TREM2 expression exacerbates neuroinflammatory responses through TLR4-mediated MAPK signaling pathway in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Molecular immunology. 2022. doi:10.1016/j.molimm.2021.12.018. PMID: 34959070.

BibTeX

@article{ruganzu2022-34959070,
  author  = {Ruganzu, J. B. and Peng, X. and He, Y. and Wu, X. and Zheng, Q. and Ding, B. and Lin, C. and Guo, H. and others},
  title   = {{Downregulation of TREM2 expression exacerbates neuroinflammatory responses through TLR4-mediated MAPK signaling pathway in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease}},
  journal = {Molecular immunology},
  year    = {2022},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.molimm.2021.12.018},
  pmid    = {34959070},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molimm.2021.12.018}
}

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