Home › Research › Tau biomarkers
Longitudinal Relationships of White Matter Hyperintensities and Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers Across the Adult Life Span
Luo J, Ma Y, Agboola FJ, Grant E, Morris JC, McDade E, Fagan AM, Benzinger TLS et al.. Neurology, 2023-05-18
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background and objectives White matter hyperintensities (WMH) correlate with Alzheimer disease (AD) biomarkers cross-sectionally and modulate AD pathogenesis. Longitudinal changes have been reported for AD biomarkers, including concentrations of CSF β-amyloid (Aβ) 42, Aβ40, total tau and phosphorylated tau181, standardized uptake value ratio from the molecular imaging of cerebral fibrillar Aβ with PET using [ 11 C] Pittsburgh Compound-B, MRI-based hippocampal volume, and cortical thickness. Correlations between established AD biomarkers and the longitudinal change for WMH have not been fully evaluated, especially among cognitively normal individuals across the adult life span.
Key findings
- Longitudinal changes have been reported for AD biomarkers, including concentrations of CSF β-amyloid (Aβ) 42, Aβ40, total tau and phosphorylated tau181, standardized uptake value ratio from the molecular imaging of cerebral fibrillar Aβ with PET using [ 11 C] Pittsburgh Compound-B, MRI-based hippocampal volume, and cortical thickness.
- Correlations between established AD biomarkers and the longitudinal change for WMH have not been fully evaluated, especially among cognitively normal individuals across the adult life span.
- Methods We jointly analyzed the longitudinal data of WMH volume and each of the established AD biomarkers and cognition from 371 cognitively normal individuals whose baseline age spanned from 19.6 to 88.20 years from 4 longitudinal studies of aging and AD.
- A 2-stage algorithm was applied to identify the inflection point of baseline age whereby older participants had an accelerated longitudinal change in WMH volume, in comparison with the younger participants.
Why it matters
This longitudinal study examined how white matter hyperintensities relate over time to established Alzheimer disease biomarkers, including cerebrospinal fluid amyloid and tau measures, PET amyloid imaging, hippocampal volume and cortical thickness, across the adult life span. It describes relationships between markers and does not test any treatment or prevention.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 53/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record and institution's track record, so those were left out: it earned 49 of the 93 points we could judge it on, which is 53 out of 100.
| 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 | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2023 — 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 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 36 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.2 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 34 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 | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 0 institution(s) in 0 countries — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 37202169) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 49 / 93 | Scored on 18 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 49 of the 93 points we could judge it on is 53 out of 100. |
| Total | 53 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000207378
- PubMed: 37202169
- 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
Luo, J., Ma, Y., Agboola, F. J., Grant, E., Morris, J. C., McDade, E., et al. (2023). Longitudinal Relationships of White Matter Hyperintensities and Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers Across the Adult Life Span. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000207378
Vancouver
Luo J, Ma Y, Agboola FJ, Grant E, Morris JC, McDade E, et al. Longitudinal Relationships of White Matter Hyperintensities and Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers Across the Adult Life Span. Neurology. 2023. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000207378. PMID: 37202169.
BibTeX
@article{luo2023-37202169,
author = {Luo, J. and Ma, Y. and Agboola, F. J. and Grant, E. and Morris, J. C. and McDade, E. and Fagan, A. M. and Benzinger, T. L. S. and others},
title = {{Longitudinal Relationships of White Matter Hyperintensities and Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers Across the Adult Life Span}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000207378},
pmid = {37202169},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000207378}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 21.
Later studies that cite this one
2 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Tau biomarkers
Also tagged “biomarkers”
821 studies in the library carry the topic tag “biomarkers”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 821 tagged studies.