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TREM2 in Alzheimer's disease
Jiang T, Yu JT, Zhu XC, Tan L.. Molecular neurobiology, 2013-02-14
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Recent works have demonstrated a rare functional variant (R47H) in triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM) 2 gene, encoding TREM2 protein, increase susceptibility to late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), with an odds ratio similar to that of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele. The reduced function of TREM2 was speculated to be the main cause in the pathogenic effects of this risk variant, and TREM2 is highly expressed in white matter, as well as in the hippocampus and neocortex, which is partly consistent with the pathological features reported in AD brain, indicating the possible involvement of TREM2 in AD pathogenesis. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that TREM2 could suppress inflammatory response by repression of microglia-mediated cytokine production and secretion, which may prevent inflammation-induced bystander damage of neurons.
Key findings
- The reduced function of TREM2 was speculated to be the main cause in the pathogenic effects of this risk variant, and TREM2 is highly expressed in white matter, as well as in the hippocampus and neocortex, which is partly consistent with the pathological features reported in AD brain, indicating the possible involvement of TREM2 in AD pathogenesis.
- Emerging evidence has demonstrated that TREM2 could suppress inflammatory response by repression of microglia-mediated cytokine production and secretion, which may prevent inflammation-induced bystander damage of neurons.
- TREM2 also participates in the regulation of phagocytic pathways that are responsible for the removal of neuronal debris.
- In this article, we review the recent epidemiological findings of TREM2 that related with late-onset AD and speculate the possible roles of TREM2 in progression of this disease.
Why it matters
This review describes how the rare TREM2 R47H variant increases susceptibility to late-onset Alzheimer's disease and how TREM2 may suppress inflammatory responses. It is a review of existing evidence and does not show any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Molecular neurobiology) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Molecular Neurobiology: journal h-index 176 (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 | 2013 — 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 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 118 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.9 citations a year over 15 year(s) since 2013 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 22 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 11 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Lan Tan: h-index 102 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Nanjing Medical University: institution h-index 508 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 23407992) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 44 / 100 | — |
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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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Jiang, T., Yu, J. T., Zhu, X. C., & Tan, L. (2013). TREM2 in Alzheimer's disease. Molecular neurobiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-013-8424-8
Vancouver
Jiang T, Yu JT, Zhu XC, Tan L. TREM2 in Alzheimer's disease. Molecular neurobiology. 2013. doi:10.1007/s12035-013-8424-8. PMID: 23407992.
BibTeX
@article{jiang2013-23407992,
author = {Jiang, T. and Yu, J. T. and Zhu, X. C. and Tan, L.},
title = {{TREM2 in Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Molecular neurobiology},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1007/s12035-013-8424-8},
pmid = {23407992},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-013-8424-8}
}
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