Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32122400›Full record

ReviewAlzheimer's research & therapy2020

The clinical promise of biomarkers of synapse damage or loss in Alzheimer's disease.

Martí Colom-Cadena, Tara Spires-Jones, Henrik Zetterberg, Kaj Blennow, Anthony Caggiano, Steven T DeKosky, Howard Fillit, John E Harrison, Lon S Schneider, Phillip Scheltens and 6 more

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 169 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
169citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
26.6field-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.

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

169 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 352 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Tracking electrophysiological signatures of Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review of multimodal studies.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. A Systematic Review of the Effects of Capsaicin on Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
    Pooled it
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  6. Genetic and molecular evidence linking CTSH to Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
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109 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

16 authors at 9 institutions in 4 countries.

Martí Colom-CadenaCentre for Discovery Brain Sciences, UK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Tara Spires-JonesCentre for Discovery Brain Sciences, UK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Henrik ZetterbergDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.
Kaj BlennowDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden.
Anthony CaggianoCognition Therapeutics. Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Steven T DeKoskyMcKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Howard FillitAlzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, New York, NY, USA.
John E HarrisonMetis Cognition Ltd, Kilmington, UK.
Lon S SchneiderKeck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Phillip ScheltensAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Willem de HaanAlzheimer Center Amsterdam, Department of Neurology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Michael GrundmanGlobal R&D Partners, San Diego, CA, USA.
Christopher H van DyckAlzheimer's Disease Research Unit and Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Nicholas J IzzoCognition Therapeutics. Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Susan M CatalanoCognition Therapeutics. Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA. scatalano@cogrx.com.
Synaptic Health Endpoints Working Group
Cognition Therapeutics (United States) · USUK Dementia Research Institute · GBAlzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation · USPartners In Care · USSahlgrenska University Hospital · SEAmsterdam Neuroscience · NLKeck Hospital of USC · USKing's College London · GBUniversity of Florida · US

Funding

Yale Clinical and Translational Science Award (U Component)UL1TR001863 · NCATS · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI John H. Krystal, LUCILA OHNO-MACHADO · 2016 to 2026
$102.9M
Yale Alzheimer Disease Research CenterP30AG066508 · NIA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI STEPHEN M STRITTMATTER, CHRISTOPHER H VAN DYCK · 2020 to 2026
$30.2M
USCADRC Diversity Supplement PachicanoP30AG066530 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI HELENA Chang CHUI, ARTHUR W TOGA · 2020 to 2026
$27.8M
PET Imaging of SV2A and Other Biomarkers in Alzheimer's DiseaseR01AG062276 · NIA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI VAN DYCK, CHRISTOPHER H · 2018 to 2022
$5.5M
Medical Research Council MR/V00610X/1NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001863NIA NIH HHS P30 AG066508NIA NIH HHS P30 AG066530NIA NIH HHS R01 AG062276
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSynapse damage and loss are fundamental to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and lead to reduced cognitive function. The goal of this review is to address the challenges of forging new clinical development approaches for AD therapeutics that can demonstrate reduction of synapse damage or loss. The key points of this review include the following: Synapse loss is a downstream effect of amyloidosis, tauopathy, inflammation, and other mechanisms occurring in AD.Synapse loss correlates most strongly with cognitive decline in AD because synaptic function underlies cognitive performance.Compounds that halt or reduce synapse damage or loss have a strong rationale as treatments of AD.Biomarkers that measure synapse degeneration or loss in patients will facilitate clinical development of such drugs.The ability of methods to sensitively measure synapse density in the brain of a living patient through synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, concentrations of synaptic proteins (e.g., neurogranin or synaptotagmin) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or functional imaging techniques such as quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) provides a compelling case to use these types of measurements as biomarkers that quantify synapse damage or loss in clinical trials in AD.

conclusionA number of emerging biomarkers are able to measure synapse injury and loss in the brain and may correlate with cognitive function in AD. These biomarkers hold promise both for use in diagnostics and in the measurement of therapeutic successes.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseBiomarkersElectroencephalographyFunctional NeuroimagingHumansPositron-Emission TomographySynapsesBiomarkersAlzheimer’s diseaseBiomarkerCerebrospinal fluidElectroencephalographyPositron emission tomographySynapse

Identifiers

PMID32122400
PMCPMC7053087
OpenAlexW3011252852

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.