Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28241046›Full record

ArticlePloS one2017

Tau or neurofilament light-Which is the more suitable biomarker for Huntington's disease?

Valter Niemelä, Anne-Marie Landtblom, Kaj Blennow, Jimmy Sundblom

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% 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

36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Biofluid Markers for Huntington's Disease.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Stage-dependent tau-PET signatures in Huntington's disease revealed by [¹⁸F]PI-2620.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
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  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
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  9. Article
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  12. Article
  13. Tau Protein Alterations Induced by Hypobaric Hypoxia Exposure.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Review
  14. Tau: a biomarker of Huntington's disease.Molecular psychiatry · 2023
    Review
  15. Peripheral Biomarkers in Manifest and Premanifest Huntington's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
    Review
  16. A Glimpse of Molecular Biomarkers in Huntington's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
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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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Valter NiemeläDepartment of Neuroscience, Neurology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2576-9938
Anne-Marie LandtblomDepartment of Neuroscience, Neurology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Kaj BlennowClinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Mölndal Campus, Mölndal, Sweden.
Jimmy SundblomDepartment of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Uppsala University · SEUniversity of Gothenburg · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPrevious studies have suggested cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of neurofilament light (NFL) and total tau are elevated in Huntington's disease (HD) and may be used as markers of disease stage. Biomarkers are needed due to the slow disease progression and the limitations of clinical assessment. This study aims to validate the role of NFL and tau as biomarkers in HD.

methodsCSF was obtained from a cohort of HD patients and premanifest HD-mutation carriers. Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) testing was performed on all subjects at the time of sampling. NFL and tau concentrations were determined by ELISA. Spearman correlations were calculated with R version 3.2.3.

results11 premanifest HD and 12 manifest HD subjects were enrolled. NFL and tau levels were correlated. NFL showed strong correlations with all items included in the clinical assessment (for example the total functional capacity (TFC) (r = - 0.70 p < 0.01) and total motor score (TMS) (r = 0.83p < 0.01). Tau showed slightly weaker correlations (eg. TMS (r = 0.67 p < 0.01); TFC (r = - 0.59 p < 0.01)). NFL was significantly correlated with 5-year probability of disease onset, whereas tau was not.

conclusionThis study strengthens the case for NFL as a useful biomarker of disease stage. NFL was strongly correlated to all evaluated items in the UHDRS assessment. Tau also has a potential for use as a biomarker but correlations to clinical tests are weaker in this study. We suggest that NFL and possibly tau be used in clinical drug trials as biomarkers of disease progression that are potentially influenced by future disease-modifying therapies.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAxonsBiomarkersCohort StudiesDisease ProgressionEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFemaleHumansHuntington DiseaseMaleMiddle AgedMutationNeurofilament Proteinstau ProteinsYoung AdultBiomarkersneurofilament protein LNeurofilament Proteinstau Proteins

Identifiers

PMID28241046
PMCPMC5328385
OpenAlexW2592956615

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.