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55/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 55 out of 100. Risk genes beyond APOE

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Emerging evidence supports a role for innate immunity and microglia in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology. However, no marker related to microglia has been included in the temporal evolution models of AD. TREM2 is a transmembrane protein involved in innate immunity and is selectively expressed by microglia and genetically linked to AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.

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APA 7th

Suárez-Calvet, M., MÁ, A. C., Kleinberger, G., Bateman, R. J., Fagan, A. M., Morris, J. C., et al. (2016). Early changes in CSF sTREM2 in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease occur after amyloid deposition and neuronal injury. Science translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aag1767

Vancouver

Suárez-Calvet M, MÁ AC, Kleinberger G, Bateman RJ, Fagan AM, Morris JC, et al. Early changes in CSF sTREM2 in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease occur after amyloid deposition and neuronal injury. Science translational medicine. 2016. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aag1767. PMID: 27974666.

BibTeX

@article{suarezcalvet2016-27974666,
  author  = {Suárez-Calvet, M. and MÁ, Araque Caballero and Kleinberger, G. and Bateman, R. J. and Fagan, A. M. and Morris, J. C. and Levin, J. and Danek, A. and others},
  title   = {{Early changes in CSF sTREM2 in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease occur after amyloid deposition and neuronal injury}},
  journal = {Science translational medicine},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1126/scitranslmed.aag1767},
  pmid    = {27974666},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aag1767}
}

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Key findings

However, no marker related to microglia has been included in the temporal evolution models of AD.
TREM2 is a transmembrane protein involved in innate immunity and is selectively expressed by microglia and genetically linked to AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Its ectodomain is released by proteolysis as a soluble variant (sTREM2) and can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
In patients with autosomal dominant AD, we tested how many years before the expected symptom onset did CSF sTREM2 increase in mutation carriers (MCs) compared to noncarriers (NCs).

Why it matters

In people with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease, changes in a microglia-related marker called sTREM2 in cerebrospinal fluid occurred after amyloid deposition and neuronal injury. This marker may help track the timing of the disease process, but the study did not test any treatment or cure.

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Study details

Participants218
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 55/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 53 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 55 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Science translational medicine)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	Science Translational Medicine: journal h-index 365 (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	1 / 5	2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	218 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	5 / 7	Cited 273 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	22.8 citations a year over 12 year(s) since 2016
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 12.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	4 / 6	Cited by 72 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 71 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27974666)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	53 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 53 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 55 out of 100.
Total	55 / 100	—

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