Home › Research › Disease mechanisms
Sleep Deprivation Affects Tau Phosphorylation in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid
Barthélemy NR, Liu H, Lu W, Kotzbauer PT, Bateman RJ, Lucey BP.. Annals of neurology, 2020-02-27
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Tau hyperphosphorylation is an early step in tau-mediated neurodegeneration and is associated with intracellular aggregation of tau as neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal and synaptic loss, and eventual cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer disease. Sleep loss increases the cerebrospinal fluid concentration of amyloid-β and tau. Using mass spectrometry, we measured tau and phosphorylated tau concentrations in serial samples of cerebrospinal fluid collected from participants who were sleep-deprived, treated with sodium oxybate, or allowed to sleep normally. We found that sleep loss affected phosphorylated tau differently depending on the modified site. These findings suggest a mechanism for sleep loss to increase risk of Alzheimer disease. ANN NEUROL 2020;87:700-709.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Barthélemy, N. R., Liu, H., Lu, W., Kotzbauer, P. T., Bateman, R. J., & Lucey, B. P. (2020). Sleep Deprivation Affects Tau Phosphorylation in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid. Annals of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.25702
Vancouver
Barthélemy NR, Liu H, Lu W, Kotzbauer PT, Bateman RJ, Lucey BP. Sleep Deprivation Affects Tau Phosphorylation in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid. Annals of neurology. 2020. doi:10.1002/ana.25702. PMID: 32057125.
BibTeX
@article{barthelemy2020-32057125,
author = {Barthélemy, N. R. and Liu, H. and Lu, W. and Kotzbauer, P. T. and Bateman, R. J. and Lucey, B. P.},
title = {{Sleep Deprivation Affects Tau Phosphorylation in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid}},
journal = {Annals of neurology},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1002/ana.25702},
pmid = {32057125},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.25702}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Tau hyperphosphorylation is an early step in tau-mediated neurodegeneration and is associated with intracellular aggregation of tau as neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal and synaptic loss, and eventual cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer disease.
- We found that sleep loss affected phosphorylated tau differently depending on the modified site.
- These findings suggest a mechanism for sleep loss to increase risk of Alzheimer disease.
Why it matters
Measuring tau in spinal fluid collected repeatedly from people who were kept awake, given sodium oxybate, or allowed to sleep normally, researchers found that sleep loss changed phosphorylated tau differently depending on the site of the chemical change. Phosphorylated tau is an early step toward the tangles seen in Alzheimer's. The authors suggest this offers a mechanism by which lost sleep could raise Alzheimer's risk, though it is not proof that poor sleep causes the disease.
Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Annals of Neurology: journal h-index 437 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial |
| 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 | 2020 — within 10 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 129 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 16.1 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 5 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 75 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Brendan P. Lucey: h-index 29 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Washington University in St. Louis: institution h-index 1,962 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32057125) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 63 / 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 this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
5 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Disease mechanisms
Also tagged “phosphorylated”
732 studies in the library carry the topic tag “phosphorylated”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 732 tagged studies.