This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

59/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 59 out of 100. Cognitive tests and assessment

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Background A growing body of evidence suggests that the plasma concentration of the neurofilament light chain (NfL) might be considered a plasma biomarker for the screening of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods With a single molecule array method (Simoa, Quanterix), plasma NfL concentrations were measured in 99 subjects with AD at the stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI-AD; n = 25) or at the stage of early dementia (ADD; n = 33), and in nondemented controls (n = 41); in all patients, the clinical diagnoses were in accordance with the results of the four core cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (amyloid β (Aβ)1-42, Aβ42/40, Tau, and pTau181), interpreted according to the Erlangen Score algorithm. The influence of preanalytical storage procedures on the NfL in plasma was tested on samples exposed to six different conditions.

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

APA 7th

Lewczuk, P., Ermann, N., Andreasson, U., Schultheis, C., Podhorna, J., Spitzer, P., et al. (2018). Plasma neurofilament light as a potential biomarker of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's research & therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-018-0404-9

Vancouver

Lewczuk P, Ermann N, Andreasson U, Schultheis C, Podhorna J, Spitzer P, et al. Plasma neurofilament light as a potential biomarker of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's research & therapy. 2018. doi:10.1186/s13195-018-0404-9. PMID: 30055655.

BibTeX

@article{lewczuk2018-30055655,
  author  = {Lewczuk, P. and Ermann, N. and Andreasson, U. and Schultheis, C. and Podhorna, J. and Spitzer, P. and Maler, J. M. and Kornhuber, J. and others},
  title   = {{Plasma neurofilament light as a potential biomarker of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease}},
  journal = {Alzheimer's research \& therapy},
  year    = {2018},
  doi     = {10.1186/s13195-018-0404-9},
  pmid    = {30055655},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-018-0404-9}
}

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

Methods With a single molecule array method (Simoa, Quanterix), plasma NfL concentrations were measured in 99 subjects with AD at the stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI-AD; n = 25) or at the stage of early dementia (ADD; n = 33), and in nondemented controls (n = 41); in all patients, the clinical diagnoses were in accordance with the results of the four core cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (amyloid β (Aβ)1-42, Aβ42/40, Tau, and pTau181), interpreted according to the Erlangen Score algorithm.
The influence of preanalytical storage procedures on the NfL in plasma was tested on samples exposed to six different conditions.
Results NfL concentrations significantly increased in the samples exposed to more than one freezing/thawing cycle, and in those stored for 5 days at room temperature or at 4 °C.
Compared with the control group of nondemented subjects (22.0 ± 12.4 pg/mL), the unadjusted plasma NfL concentration was highly significantly higher in the MCI-AD group (38.1 ± 15.9 pg/mL, p < 0.005) and even further elevated in the ADD group (49.1 ± 28.4 pg/mL; p < 0.001).

Why it matters

Plasma neurofilament light was measured in 99 subjects with Alzheimer's disease at the mild cognitive impairment or early dementia stage and in non-demented controls. This work is about a possible biomarker for detecting neurodegeneration, not about treating, curing or preventing the disease.

Study details

Participants25
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 59/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomized / blinded 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	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	2 / 5	2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	1 / 4	25 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)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 305 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	30.5 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018
Impact for its field and year	5 / 6	Cited 27.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 18 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 67 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Henrik Zetterberg: h-index 196 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	3 / 3	OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 4 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30055655)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	59 / 100	—

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

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 13.

Later studies that cite this one

18 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.

Related studies in Cognitive tests and assessment

Also tagged “cerebrospinal”

820 studies in the library carry the topic tag “cerebrospinal”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 820 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Cognitive tests and assessment

See all studies in Cognitive tests and assessment →