ArticlePloS one2013
Increased neurofilament light chain blood levels in neurodegenerative neurological diseases.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 268 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Mitochondrial Capacity Boost in ALS (MICABO-ALS) Trial
Role of Neurofilament Light Chain as a Diagnostic Tool and Predictor of Outcome of Acute Ischemic Stroke.
Who cites it
268 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 480 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Blood Biomarkers as Prognostic Indicators for Neurological Injury in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Relationship between postoperative biomarkers of neuronal injury and postoperative cognitive dysfunction: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Temporal Patterning of Neurofilament Light as a Blood-Based Biomarker for Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Correlation between CSF and blood neurofilament light chain protein: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ neurology open · 2021Pooled it
- Guideline
- Neurofilament light chain for prognostication after cardiac arrest-first steps towards validation.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Plasma neurofilament light chain concentrations as a biomarker of clinical and radiologic outcomes in relapsing multiple sclerosis: Post hoc analysis of Phase 3 ozanimod trials.European journal of neurology · 2021Trial
- Serum neurofilament light chain as a severity marker for spinocerebellar ataxia.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Neurofilament light levels are associated with long-term outcomes in multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2020Trial
- Repeated 5-day cycles of low dose aldesleukin in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (IMODALS): A phase 2a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.EBioMedicine · 2020Trial
- Neurofilament light is a treatment-responsive biomarker in CLN2 disease.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2019Trial
- Atypical population pharmacokinetics of hydromethylthionine in patients with Alzheimer's disease explains unexpected phase 3 trial results.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Article
- Neurofilament Light Chain (Nfl) Level in Serum as a Suitable In Vivo Biomaker for Axonal Damage in a Murine Viral Model of Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Unwinding the Neurovascular Unit: The Vascular Extracellular Matrix and Mechanochemical Collagen Functionalization in Vascular Dementia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Use of blood-based neurofilament light chain as an endpoint in clinical trials of neurodegenerative conditions: a scoping review.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Age-adjusted neurofilament light chain cutoffs for diagnosing neurodegenerative dementia: a two-threshold machine learning approach.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Predicts Stroke Outcome and is a Potential Marker for Treatment Effects of Neural Stem Cell-derived Extracellular Vesicles in a Rat Stroke Model.Translational stroke research · 2026Article
208 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveNeuronal damage is the morphological substrate of persisting neurological disability. Neurofilaments (Nf) are cytoskeletal proteins of neurons and their release into cerebrospinal fluid has shown encouraging results as a biomarker for neurodegeneration. This study aimed to validate the quantification of the Nf light chain (NfL) in blood samples, as a biofluid source easily accessible for longitudinal studies.
methodsWe developed and applied a highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) based immunoassay for quantification of NfL in blood and CSF.
resultsPatients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (30.8 pg/ml, n=20), Guillain-Barré-syndrome (GBS) (79.4 pg/ml, n=19) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (95.4 pg/ml, n=46) had higher serum NfL values than a control group of neurological patients without evidence of structural CNS damage (control patients, CP) (4.4 pg/ml, n=68, p<0.0001 for each comparison, p=0.002 for AD patients) and healthy controls (HC) (3.3 pg/ml, n=67, p<0.0001). Similar differences were seen in corresponding CSF samples. CSF and serum levels correlated in AD (r=0.48, p=0.033), GBS (r=0.79, p<0.0001) and ALS (r=0.70, p<0.0001), but not in CP (r=0.11, p=0.3739). The sensitivity and specificity of serum NfL for separating ALS from healthy controls was 91.3% and 91.0%.
conclusionsWe developed and validated a novel ECL based sandwich immunoassay for the NfL protein in serum (NfL(Umea47:3)); levels in ALS were more than 20-fold higher than in controls. Our data supports further longitudinal studies of serum NfL in neurodegenerative diseases as a potential biomarker of on-going disease progression, and as a potential surrogate to quantify effects of neuroprotective drugs in clinical trials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.