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39/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 39 out of 100. Tau biomarkers

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 33 patients with Alzheimer dementia (AD), 21 patients with mild cognitive impairment who converted to AD during followup (MCI-AD), 25 patients with stable mild cognitive impairment (MCI-stable), and 16 nondemented subjects (ND) were analyzed with a chemiluminescence immunoassay to assess the levels of the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK1/2 (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2). The results were evaluated in relation to total Tau (tTau), phosphorylated Tau (pTau), and beta-amyloid 42 peptide (Aβ42). CSF-ERK1/2 was significantly increased in the AD group as compared to stable MCI patients and the ND group.

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APA 7th

Spitzer, P., Schieb, H., Kamrowski-Kruck, H., Otto, M., Chiasserini, D., Parnetti, L., et al. (2011). Evidence for Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid ERK1/2 Levels in Alzheimer Dementia. International journal of Alzheimer's disease. https://doi.org/10.4061/2011/739847

Vancouver

Spitzer P, Schieb H, Kamrowski-Kruck H, Otto M, Chiasserini D, Parnetti L, et al. Evidence for Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid ERK1/2 Levels in Alzheimer Dementia. International journal of Alzheimer's disease. 2011. doi:10.4061/2011/739847. PMID: 22145083.

BibTeX

@article{spitzer2011-22145083,
  author  = {Spitzer, P. and Schieb, H. and Kamrowski-Kruck, H. and Otto, M. and Chiasserini, D. and Parnetti, L. and Herukka, S. K. and Schuchhardt, J. and others},
  title   = {{Evidence for Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid ERK1/2 Levels in Alzheimer Dementia}},
  journal = {International journal of Alzheimer's disease},
  year    = {2011},
  doi     = {10.4061/2011/739847},
  pmid    = {22145083},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.4061/2011/739847}
}

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Key findings

The results were evaluated in relation to total Tau (tTau), phosphorylated Tau (pTau), and beta-amyloid 42 peptide (Aβ42).
CSF-ERK1/2 was significantly increased in the AD group as compared to stable MCI patients and the ND group.
Western blot analysis of a pooled cerebrospinal fluid sample revealed that both isoforms, ERK1 and ERK2, and low amounts of doubly phosphorylated ERK2 were detectable.
As a predictive diagnostic AD biomarker, CSF-ERK1/2 was inferior to tTau, pTau, and Aβ42.

Why it matters

This study found that a protein called ERK1/2 was higher in the spinal fluid of people with Alzheimer's dementia than in people with stable mild cognitive impairment or in people without dementia. However, as a diagnostic test for Alzheimer's, this protein was worse than the standard markers total tau, phosphorylated tau, and beta-amyloid 42.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →

Study details

Participants33
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 39/100

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

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (International journal of Alzheimer's disease)
Journal's citation record	0 / 4	International Journal of Alzheimer s Disease: journal h-index 73 (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	2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	1 / 4	33 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	3 / 7	Cited 17 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	1 / 5	1.0 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 1.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	1 / 6	Cited by 1 other studies in this library
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Hans‐Wolfgang Klafki: h-index 28 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: institution h-index 901 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 3 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22145083)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	39 / 100	—

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