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77/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 77 out of 100. Biomarkers

Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers

Plasma NfL and GFAP were associated with vascular brain damage and differed across states (VCI > vascular CU > non-vascular CI > non-vascular CU). In a population-based sample, these biomarkers distinguished vascular CU and VCI from non-vascular CU groups with greater separation in amyloid negative participants. Pathway analyses showed NfL was primarily influenced by systemic/brain vascular health, whereas amyloid contributed to GFAP variability. Plasma biomarkers, particularly NfL, capture vascular brain changes and show promise for VCI identification. HIGHLIGHTS: Plasma NfL and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were associated with vascular brain indices. Plasma biomarkers differed across diagnostic states (VCI > vascular CU > non-vascular CI > non-vascular CU). Plasma markers discriminated vascular from non-vascular states with greater separation in Aβ- participants. NfL was linked to vascular health, while amyloid influenced GFAP variability in the population-based sample. Future longitudinal frameworks should consider systemic inflammation markers along with these plasma markers to better understand VCID-related brain changes and cognitive decline.

Key findings

Plasma NfL and GFAP were associated with vascular brain damage and differed across states (VCI > vascular CU > non-vascular CI > non-vascular CU).
In a population-based sample, these biomarkers distinguished vascular CU and VCI from non-vascular CU groups with greater separation in amyloid negative participants.
Pathway analyses showed NfL was primarily influenced by systemic/brain vascular health, whereas amyloid contributed to GFAP variability.
Plasma biomarkers, particularly NfL, capture vascular brain changes and show promise for VCI identification.
HIGHLIGHTS: Plasma NfL and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were associated with vascular brain indices.

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Study details

Study designlongitudinal study
Participants1,810
Effect size1.3%
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 77/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 43 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 77 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
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	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	1,810 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)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	— / 7	No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year	— / 5	No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year	— / 6	No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here	— / 6	Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited	— / 4	No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
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	— / 3	Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40566826)
Free to read	— / 2	Access not recorded — left out of this score
Points	43 / 56	Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 43 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 77 out of 100.
Total	77 / 100	—

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

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

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APA 7th

Raghavan, S., Graff-Radford, J., Hofrenning, E., Fought, A. J., Reid, R. I., Kamykowski, M. G., et al. (2025). Plasma NfL and GFAP for predicting VCI and related brain changes in community and clinical cohorts. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70381

Vancouver

Raghavan S, Graff-Radford J, Hofrenning E, Fought AJ, Reid RI, Kamykowski MG, et al. Plasma NfL and GFAP for predicting VCI and related brain changes in community and clinical cohorts. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2025. doi:10.1002/alz.70381. PMID: 40566826.

BibTeX

@article{raghavan2025-40566826,
  author  = {Raghavan, Sheelakumari and Graff-Radford, Jonathan and Hofrenning, Ekaterina and Fought, Angela J and Reid, Robert I and Kamykowski, Michael G and Algeciras-Schimnich, Alicia and Windham, B Gwen and others},
  title   = {{Plasma NfL and GFAP for predicting VCI and related brain changes in community and clinical cohorts}},
  journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1002/alz.70381},
  pmid    = {40566826},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70381}
}

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