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Serum neurofilament indicates accelerated neurodegeneration and predicts mortality in late-stage Parkinson's disease
Frank A, Bendig J, Schnalke N, Klingelhoefer L, Reichmann H, Akgün K, Ziemssen T, Falkenburger BH.. NPJ Parkinson's disease, 2024-01-09
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Different stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) are defined by clinical criteria, while late-stage PD is marked by the onset of morbidity milestones and rapid clinical deterioration. Based on neuropathological evidence, degeneration in the dopaminergic system occurs primarily in the early stage of PD, raising the question of what drives disease progression in late-stage PD. This study aimed to investigate whether late-stage PD is associated with increased neurodegeneration dynamics rather than functional decompensation using the blood-based biomarker serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) as a proxy for the rate of neurodegeneration. The study included 118 patients with PD in the transition and late-stage (minimum disease duration 5 years, mean (SD) disease duration 15 (±7) years). The presence of clinical milestones (hallucinations, dementia, recurrent falls, and admission to a nursing home) and mortality were determined based on chart review. We found that sNfL was higher in patients who presented with at least one clinical milestone and increased with a higher number of milestones (Spearman's ρ = 0.66, p < 0.001). Above a cutoff value of 26.9 pg/ml, death was 13.6 times more likely during the follow-up period (95% CI: 3.53-52.3, p < 0.001), corresponding to a sensitivity of 85.0% and a specificity of 85.7% (AUC 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85-0.97). Similar values were obtained when using an age-adjusted cutoff percentile of 90% for sNfL. Our findings suggest that the rate of ongoing neurodegeneration is higher in advanced PD (as defined by the presence of morbidity milestones) than in earlier disease stages. A better understanding of the biological basis of stage-dependent neurodegeneration may facilitate the development of neuroprotective means.
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APA 7th
Frank, A., Bendig, J., Schnalke, N., Klingelhoefer, L., Reichmann, H., Akgün, K., et al. (2024). Serum neurofilament indicates accelerated neurodegeneration and predicts mortality in late-stage Parkinson's disease. NPJ Parkinson's disease. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-023-00605-x
Vancouver
Frank A, Bendig J, Schnalke N, Klingelhoefer L, Reichmann H, Akgün K, et al. Serum neurofilament indicates accelerated neurodegeneration and predicts mortality in late-stage Parkinson's disease. NPJ Parkinson's disease. 2024. doi:10.1038/s41531-023-00605-x. PMID: 38195715.
BibTeX
@article{frank2024-38195715,
author = {Frank, A. and Bendig, J. and Schnalke, N. and Klingelhoefer, L. and Reichmann, H. and Akgün, K. and Ziemssen, T. and Falkenburger, B. H.},
title = {{Serum neurofilament indicates accelerated neurodegeneration and predicts mortality in late-stage Parkinson's disease}},
journal = {NPJ Parkinson's disease},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1038/s41531-023-00605-x},
pmid = {38195715},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-023-00605-x}
}
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 8 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.
Key findings
- This study aimed to investigate whether late-stage PD is associated with increased neurodegeneration dynamics rather than functional decompensation using the blood-based biomarker serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) as a proxy for the rate of neurodegeneration.
- We found that sNfL was higher in patients who presented with at least one clinical milestone and increased with a higher number of milestones (Spearman's ρ = 0.66, p < 0.001).
- Our findings suggest that the rate of ongoing neurodegeneration is higher in advanced PD (as defined by the presence of morbidity milestones) than in earlier disease stages.
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Study details
- Participants118
- Effect size85.0%; 85.7%; AUC 0.91
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 59/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and 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 and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 34 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 59 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NPJ Parkinson's disease) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 118 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| 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 38195715) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 34 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 34 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 59 out of 100. |
| Total | 59 / 100 | — |
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