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46/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 46 out of 100. TREM2 and immune genetics

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, resulting in the loss of cognitive ability and memory. However, there is no specific treatment to mechanistically inhibit the progression of Alzheimer's disease, and most drugs only provide symptom relief and do not fundamentally reverse AD. Current studies show that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is predominantly expressed in microglia of the central nervous system (CNS) and is involved in microglia proliferation, survival, migration and phagocytosis.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

This is a narrative review. TREM2 is a receptor found mainly on microglia, the brain's immune cells, and the review describes it as helping those cells grow, survive, move and clear away toxic substances and abnormal proteins. It reports that "the current academic view" sees TREM2 as protective in Alzheimer's, which makes it a candidate drug target at a time when, the authors note, most drugs "only provide symptom relief".

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

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

APA 7th

Li, Y., Xu, H., Wang, H., Yang, K., Luan, J., & Wang, S. (2023). TREM2: Potential therapeutic targeting of microglia for Alzheimer's disease. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115218

Vancouver

Li Y, Xu H, Wang H, Yang K, Luan J, Wang S. TREM2: Potential therapeutic targeting of microglia for Alzheimer's disease. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie. 2023. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115218. PMID: 37517293.

BibTeX

@article{li2023-37517293,
  author  = {Li, Y. and Xu, H. and Wang, H. and Yang, K. and Luan, J. and Wang, S.},
  title   = {{TREM2: Potential therapeutic targeting of microglia for Alzheimer's disease}},
  journal = {Biomedicine \& pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine \& pharmacotherapie},
  year    = {2023},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115218},
  pmid    = {37517293},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115218}
}

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.

How to read this study

Design: this is a narrative review. It summarises a field without a fixed search method, so it shows how authors read the evidence rather than measuring it. Use it to find the primary studies, not as a result in itself.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

However, there is no specific treatment to mechanistically inhibit the progression of Alzheimer's disease, and most drugs only provide symptom relief and do not fundamentally reverse AD.
Current studies show that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is predominantly expressed in microglia of the central nervous system (CNS) and is involved in microglia proliferation, survival, migration and phagocytosis.
The current academic view suggests that TREM2 and its ligands have CNS protective effects in AD.
Specifically, TREM2 acts by regulating the function of microglia and promoting the clearance of neuronal toxic substances and abnormal proteins by microglia.

Why it matters

TREM2 is a receptor found mainly on microglia, the brain's immune cells, and the review describes it as helping those cells grow, survive, move and clear away toxic substances and abnormal proteins. It reports that "the current academic view" sees TREM2 as protective in Alzheimer's, which makes it a candidate drug target at a time when, the authors note, most drugs "only provide symptom relief". This is a review of existing research: it names no tested treatment and reports no new results in patients.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 46/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 46 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy: journal h-index 227 (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	3 / 5	2023 — within 6 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)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 125 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	25.0 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 10.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 7 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 123 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Sheng Wang holds only 8 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Wannan Medical College: institution h-index 164 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 37517293)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	44 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 46 out of 100.
Total	46 / 100	—

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

Read the original

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