Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23714377›Full record

ArticleBrain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland)2014

Beta-amyloid, phospho-tau and alpha-synuclein deposits similar to those in the brain are not identified in the eyes of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease patients.

Cheng-Ying Ho, Juan C Troncoso, David Knox, Walter Stark, Charles G Eberhart

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 100 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
100citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.9field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

100 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 156 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Brain and retina in Alzheimer's disease: Pathological intersections and estimates from imaging.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Ocular changes as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology in the Retina.Progress in retinal and eye research · 2024
    Review
  20. Article

40 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Cheng-Ying HoDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
Juan C Troncoso
David Knox
Walter Stark
Charles G Eberhart
Johns Hopkins Medicine · USJohns Hopkins University · US

Funding

'T V ASSESSMENT - MEMORY DISORDERED PATIENTS'P50AG005146 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI HUGANIR, RICHARD L · 1985 to 2019
$37.6M
NIA NIH HHS P50 AG005146
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are the two most common neurodegenerative disorders, and are characterized by deposition of specific proteins in the brain. If similar abnormal protein deposits are present in the eye, it would facilitate noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression. We therefore evaluated expression of proteins associated with AD and PD pathology in postmortem eyes and brains in a case-control study. Eyes from 11 cases of AD, 6 cases of PD or PD with dementia, and 6 age-matched controls were retrieved from the autopsy archives of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Immunostains for β-amyloid, phospho-tau and α-synuclein and Congo red stains were performed in the same laboratory in both brains and eyes. No amyloid deposits or abnormal tau accumulations were detected in the lens, retina or other structures in the eyes of AD patients. Eyes also lacked definite Lewy bodies or Lewy neurites in either PD or AD cases. Patchy cytoplasmic α-synuclein positivity was seen in the retina of AD, PD and control cases, but did not correlate with the presence or extent of Lewy body pathology in the brain. Abnormal protein aggregations characteristic of AD and PD are thus not commonly present in the retinas or lens of affected patients when assayed using the same protocols as in the brain. This suggests that β-amyloid, phospho-tau and α-synuclein either do not deposit in the eye in a manner analogous to brain, or are present at lower levels or in different forms.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overalpha-SynucleinAlzheimer DiseaseAmyloid beta-PeptidesCase-Control StudiesEyeFemaleHumansLewy BodiesMaleMiddle AgedParkinson DiseasePhosphorylationPlaque, Amyloidalpha-SynucleinAmyloid beta-Peptidesamyloideyelenssynucleintau

Identifiers

PMID23714377
PMCPMC3976129
OpenAlexW1933624512

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.