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Neuron-derived extracellular vesicles in blood reveal effects of exercise in Alzheimer's disease
Delgado-Peraza F, Nogueras-Ortiz C, Simonsen AH, Knight DD, Yao PJ, Goetzl EJ, Jensen CS, Høgh P et al.. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2023-09-20
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Background Neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs) in blood may be used to derive biomarkers for the effects of exercise in Alzheimer's disease (AD). For this purpose, we studied changes in neuroprotective proteins proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin in plasma NDEVs from patients with mild to moderate AD participating in the randomized controlled trial (RCT) of exercise ADEX. Methods proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin were quantified in NDEVs immunocaptured from the plasma of 95 ADEX participants, randomized into exercise and control groups, and collected at baseline and 16 weeks. Exploratorily, we also quantified NDEV levels of putative exerkines known to respond to exercise in peripheral tissues. Results NDEV levels of proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin increased in the exercise group, especially in APOE ε4 carriers, but remained unchanged in the control group. Inter-correlations between NDEV biomarkers observed at baseline were maintained after exercise. NDEV levels of putative exerkines remained unchanged. Conclusions Findings suggest that the cognitive benefits of exercise could be mediated by the upregulation of neuroprotective factors in NDEVs. Additionally, our results indicate that AD subjects carrying APOE ε4 are more responsive to the neuroprotective effects of physical activity. Unchanged NDEV levels of putative exerkines after physical activity imply that exercise engages different pathways in neurons and peripheral tissues. Future studies should aim to expand upon the effects of exercise duration, intensity, and type in NDEVs from patients with early AD and additional neurodegenerative disorders. Trial registration The Effect of Physical Exercise in Alzheimer Patients (ADEX) was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on April 30, 2012 with the identifier NCT01681602.
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APA 7th
Delgado-Peraza, F., Nogueras-Ortiz, C., Simonsen, A. H., Knight, D. D., Yao, P. J., Goetzl, E. J., et al. (2023). Neuron-derived extracellular vesicles in blood reveal effects of exercise in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's research & therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-023-01303-9
Vancouver
Delgado-Peraza F, Nogueras-Ortiz C, Simonsen AH, Knight DD, Yao PJ, Goetzl EJ, et al. Neuron-derived extracellular vesicles in blood reveal effects of exercise in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's research & therapy. 2023. doi:10.1186/s13195-023-01303-9. PMID: 37730689.
BibTeX
@article{delgadoperaza2023-37730689,
author = {Delgado-Peraza, F. and Nogueras-Ortiz, C. and Simonsen, A. H. and Knight, D. D. and Yao, P. J. and Goetzl, E. J. and Jensen, C. S. and Høgh, P. and others},
title = {{Neuron-derived extracellular vesicles in blood reveal effects of exercise in Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Alzheimer's research \& therapy},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1186/s13195-023-01303-9},
pmid = {37730689},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-023-01303-9}
}
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.
Key findings
- Results NDEV levels of proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin increased in the exercise group, especially in APOE ε4 carriers, but remained unchanged in the control group.
- Conclusions Findings suggest that the cognitive benefits of exercise could be mediated by the upregulation of neuroprotective factors in NDEVs.
- Additionally, our results indicate that AD subjects carrying APOE ε4 are more responsive to the neuroprotective effects of physical activity.
Why it matters
In this analysis of 95 participants with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease from a randomized exercise trial, levels of neuroprotective proteins proBDNF, BDNF, and humanin increased in neuron-derived extracellular vesicles in the exercise group, especially in APOE ε4 carriers. The findings suggest that exercise may trigger neuroprotective effects, but the study did not measure whether this translates into cognitive improvement or disease modification.
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Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 67/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomized controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer's research & therapy) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Alzheimer s Research & Therapy: journal h-index 146 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomized controlled trial |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomized / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomized (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 75 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 15.0 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.6× 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 | 3 / 4 | Cited 75 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Dimitrios Kapogiannis: h-index 70 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | National Institutes of Health: institution h-index 2,723 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 37730689) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 67 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1186/s13195-023-01303-9
- PubMed: 37730689
- Original source →
- Free full text: Alzheimer s Research & Therapy →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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