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58/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 58 out of 100. Long-term cohort studies

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Introduction Plasma markers have been reported to be associated with brain amyloid burden, tau pathology, or neurodegeneration. We aimed to evaluate whether plasma biomarker profiles could predict Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and clinical progression in older adults without dementia. Methods Cross-sectional and longitudinal data of participants enrolled in this study were from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Shen, X. N., Li, J. Q., Wang, H. F., Li, H. Q., Huang, Y. Y., Yang, Y. X., et al. (2020). Plasma amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration biomarker profiles predict Alzheimer's disease pathology and clinical progression in older adults without dementia. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12104

Vancouver

Shen XN, Li JQ, Wang HF, Li HQ, Huang YY, Yang YX, et al. Plasma amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration biomarker profiles predict Alzheimer's disease pathology and clinical progression in older adults without dementia. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 2020. doi:10.1002/dad2.12104. PMID: 33005724.

BibTeX

@article{shen2020-33005724,
  author  = {Shen, X. N. and Li, J. Q. and Wang, H. F. and Li, H. Q. and Huang, Y. Y. and Yang, Y. X. and Tan, L. and Dong, Q. and others},
  title   = {{Plasma amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration biomarker profiles predict Alzheimer's disease pathology and clinical progression in older adults without dementia}},
  journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)},
  year    = {2020},
  doi     = {10.1002/dad2.12104},
  pmid    = {33005724},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12104}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a cross-sectional study. Everyone is measured once, so it cannot show which came first. Read it as a snapshot of how two things go together at one moment.
Size: the record lists 183 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record reports “48.1%”. A statistically significant result can still be small in daily life.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded moderate. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Moderate means the abstract mentions a cohort, case-control or longitudinal design. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

We aimed to evaluate whether plasma biomarker profiles could predict Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and clinical progression in older adults without dementia.
Methods Cross-sectional and longitudinal data of participants enrolled in this study were from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).
Plasma amyloid beta (Aβ) 1-42 /Aβ 1-40 ratio was selected as the marker for amyloid pathology, p-tau181 for tau pathology, and neurofilament light for neurodegeneration.
Cut-offs for these plasma markers were calculated with well-established positron emission tomography and structural imaging biomarkers as reference.

Why it matters

This study used Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative data to test whether plasma biomarker profiles could predict Alzheimer's disease pathology and clinical progression in older adults without dementia. It is a cross-sectional and longitudinal observational study, so it cannot show that acting on these biomarkers would prevent or cure Alzheimer's disease.

Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants183
Effect size48.1%
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 58/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomized / 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 56 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 58 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands))
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	Alzheimer s & Dementia Diagnosis Assessment & Disease Monitoring: journal h-index 86 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in 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	2 / 5	2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	183 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 56 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	2 / 5	7.0 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 5.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 4 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 19 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	1 / 3	Fudan University: institution h-index 954 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33005724)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Points	56 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 56 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 58 out of 100.
Total	58 / 100	—

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

Read the original

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