Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30287870›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2018

Serum GFAP as a biomarker for disease severity in multiple sclerosis.

A Abdelhak, A Huss, J Kassubek, H Tumani, M Otto

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 166 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
166citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
11.5field-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.

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

166 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 277 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. Impact of age, BMI, and renal function adjustment on interpretation of serum NfL and GFAP in multiple sclerosis progression: a scoping review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Article
  20. Review

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

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

A AbdelhakDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9731-4169
A HussDepartment of Experimental Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
J KassubekDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
H TumaniDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
M OttoDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. markus.otto@uni-ulm.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4273-4267
University Hospital Ulm · DEFachklinik für Neurologie Dietenbronn · DEUniversität Ulm · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While neurofilament light chain (NfL) measurement in serum is a well-established marker of neuroaxonal damage in multiple sclerosis (MS), data on astroglial markers in serum are missing. In our study, glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) and NfL were measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of MS patients and patients with other non-inflammatory neurological diseases (OND) using the Simoa technology. Clinical data like age, gender, expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and MRI findings were correlated to neurochemical markers. We included 80 MS patients: 42 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 38 progressive MS (PMS), as well as 20 OND. Serum GFAP levels were higher in PMS compared to RRMS and OND (p < 0.001, p = 0.02 respectively). Serum GFAP levels correlated with disease severity in the whole MS group and PMS (Spearman-rho = 0.5, p < 0.001 in both groups). Serum GFAP correlated with serum NfL in PMS patients (Spearman-rho = 0.4, p = 0.01). Levels of serum GFAP were higher with increasing MRI-lesion count (p = 0.01). in summary, we report elevated levels of GFAP in the serum of MS patients. Since serum levels of GFAP correlate with the clinical severity scores and MRI lesion count, especially in PMS patients, it might be a suitable disease progression marker.

Indexed as

AdultBiomarkersCerebrospinal FluidGlial Fibrillary Acidic ProteinHumansMiddle AgedMultiple SclerosisNeurofilament ProteinsSerumYoung AdultBiomarkersGFAP protein, humanGlial Fibrillary Acidic Proteinneurofilament protein LNeurofilament Proteins

Identifiers

PMID30287870
PMCPMC6172254
OpenAlexW2894413318

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.