Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27819296›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2016

Serum neurofilament light protein predicts clinical outcome in traumatic brain injury.

Pashtun Shahim, Magnus Gren, Victor Liman, Ulf Andreasson, Niklas Norgren, Yelverton Tegner, Niklas Mattsson, Niels Andreasen, Martin Öst, Henrik Zetterberg and 2 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06163833 (MATRIx), which is not on this map. Cited by 201 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
201citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
23.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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.

NCT06163833 phase2recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

MATRIx: MesenchymAl Stromal Cells for Traumatic bRain Injury

TypeinterventionalSponsorFondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei TintoriRan2023 to 2026Enrolled78ConditionsTraumatic Brain Injury With Loss of ConsciousnessArmsMesenchymal stromal cell low dosage-80*10^6 cells, Mesenchymal stromal cell low dosage-160*10^6 cells, Placebo-storage solution
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

201 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 336 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Neurofilament light chain in patients with a concussion or head impacts: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2022
    Pooled it
  6. The Impact of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia on Neurofilament Light and Phosphorylated Tau in Individuals with a Concussion.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2025
    Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Neurofilament light is a treatment-responsive biomarker in CLN2 disease.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2019
    Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Article
  13. Ultrasensitive Detection of Neurofilament Light in Plasma Using F(Ab')Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  14. Observational
  15. Research progress on biomarkers of traumatic brain injury.Animal models and experimental medicine · 2026
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review

141 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

12 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.

Pashtun ShahimClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, SE-43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
Magnus GrenClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, SE-43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
Victor LimanClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, SE-43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
Ulf AndreassonClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, SE-43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
Niklas NorgrenUmanDiagnostics, Umeå, Sweden.
Yelverton TegnerDivision of Medical Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, SE 971 87 Luleå, Sweden.
Niklas MattssonClinical Memory Research Unit, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
Niels AndreasenDepartment of NVS, Karolinska Institute, Center for Alzheimer Research, Stockholm, Sweden.
Martin ÖstDepartment of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Henrik ZetterbergClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, SE-43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
Bengt NellgårdDepartment of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Kaj BlennowClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, SE-43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
Sahlgrenska University Hospital · SEUniversity of Gothenburg · SEKarolinska Institutet · SELuleå University of Technology · SELund University · SEUmeå University · SEUniversity College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Axonal white matter injury is believed to be a major determinant of adverse outcomes following traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that measurement of neurofilament light protein (NF-L), a protein found in long white-matter axons, in blood samples, may serve as a suitable biomarker for neuronal damage in TBI patients. To test our hypotheses, we designed a study in two parts: i) we developed an immunoassay based on Single molecule array technology for quantification of NF-L in blood, and ii) in a proof-of-concept study, we tested our newly developed method on serial serum samples from severe TBI (sTBI) patients (n = 72) and controls (n = 35). We also compared the diagnostic and prognostic utility of NF-L with the established blood biomarker S100B. NF-L levels were markedly increased in sTBI patients compared with controls. NF-L at admission yielded an AUC of 0.99 to detect TBI versus controls (AUC 0.96 for S100B), and increased to 1.00 at day 12 (0.65 for S100B). Importantly, initial NF-L levels predicted poor 12-month clinical outcome. In contrast, S100B was not related to outcome. Taken together, our data suggests that measurement of serum NF-L may be useful to assess the severity of neuronal injury following sTBI.

Indexed as

AdultArea Under CurveAxonsBiomarkersBrain Injuries, TraumaticCase-Control StudiesEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFemaleHumansImmunoassayMaleMiddle AgedNeurofilament ProteinsNeuronsPrognosisReproducibility of ResultsBiomarkersneurofilament protein LNeurofilament ProteinsS100B protein, humanS100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit

Identifiers

PMID27819296
PMCPMC5098187
OpenAlexW2550361609

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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.