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45/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 45 out of 100. TREM2 and immune genetics

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Immune cells of myeloid lineage are encountered in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain, where they cluster around amyloid-β plaques. However, assigning functional roles to myeloid cell subtypes has been problematic, and the potential for peripheral myeloid cells to alleviate AD pathology remains unclear. Therefore, we asked whether replacement of brain-resident myeloid cells with peripheral monocytes alters amyloid deposition in two mouse models of cerebral β-amyloidosis (APP23 and APPPS1).

Key findings

However, assigning functional roles to myeloid cell subtypes has been problematic, and the potential for peripheral myeloid cells to alleviate AD pathology remains unclear.
Therefore, we asked whether replacement of brain-resident myeloid cells with peripheral monocytes alters amyloid deposition in two mouse models of cerebral β-amyloidosis (APP23 and APPPS1).
Interestingly, early after repopulation, infiltrating monocytes neither clustered around plaques nor showed Trem2 expression.
However, with increasing time in the brain, infiltrating monocytes became plaque associated and also Trem2 positive.

Why it matters

In two mouse models of amyloid buildup, replacing the brain's resident immune cells with peripheral monocytes did not change amyloid deposition. This indicates that this type of immune cell replacement does not reduce amyloid plaques, at least in these animal models.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 45/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of experimental medicine)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	The Journal of Experimental Medicine: journal h-index 652 (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	1 / 5	2015 — within 20 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	Laboratory or animal study (title names “mouse”) — scores zero
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 99 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	2 / 5	7.6 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015
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	3 / 6	Cited by 15 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 21 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Jonas J. Neher: h-index 34 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	University of Tübingen: institution h-index 940 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26458770)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	45 / 100	—

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Read the original

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 names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Varvel, N. H., Grathwohl, S. A., Degenhardt, K., Resch, C., Bosch, A., Jucker, M., et al. (2015). Replacement of brain-resident myeloid cells does not alter cerebral amyloid-β deposition in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. The Journal of experimental medicine. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20150478

Vancouver

Varvel NH, Grathwohl SA, Degenhardt K, Resch C, Bosch A, Jucker M, et al. Replacement of brain-resident myeloid cells does not alter cerebral amyloid-β deposition in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. The Journal of experimental medicine. 2015. doi:10.1084/jem.20150478. PMID: 26458770.

BibTeX

@article{varvel2015-26458770,
  author  = {Varvel, N. H. and Grathwohl, S. A. and Degenhardt, K. and Resch, C. and Bosch, A. and Jucker, M. and Neher, J. J.},
  title   = {{Replacement of brain-resident myeloid cells does not alter cerebral amyloid-β deposition in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease}},
  journal = {The Journal of experimental medicine},
  year    = {2015},
  doi     = {10.1084/jem.20150478},
  pmid    = {26458770},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20150478}
}

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