ReviewMolecular psychiatry2024
Introducing neurofilament light chain measure in psychiatry: current evidence, opportunities, and pitfalls.
Review in Molecular psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06877442 (Correlation of Neuronal Cytoskeletal Integrity With Severity of Symptoms and Cognitive Decline In Mood Disorders), which is not on this map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 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.
Correlation of Neuronal Cytoskeletal Integrity With Severity of Symptoms and Cognitive Decline In Mood Disorders
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Biofluid Markers for Huntington's Disease.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Pooled it
- Neurofilament Light Protein as a Biomarker in Severe Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Nutritional state-dependent changes in subcortical limbic structures in anorexia nervosa are linked to leptin, ghrelin, and neurofilament light.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal plasma neurofilament light chain and patient-reported outcomes as complementary markers of vincristine-associated peripheral neuropathy in adults with lymphoma: a cohort study.Journal of neurology · 2026Observational
- Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in Leprosy Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2026Observational
- Exploring serum biomarkers in paediatric psychiatry: the impact of NfL and GFAP.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Biological and Clinical Significance, Multi-Omics Integration, and AI-Driven Biomarker Modeling for Precision Therapy.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- From case-control averages to validated subgroups: Interpreting inflammatory and neuroaxonal-injury biomarkers in schizophrenia and major depression.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Review
- Longitudinal plasma neurofilament light chain and patient-reported outcomes as complementary markers of vincristine-associated peripheral neuropathy in adults with lymphoma: a cohort study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Definition of treatment-resistant late-life depression: Conclusions from a European Task Force Delphi process.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Neuroinflammation: an unfortunate term to describe schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- CSF neurofilament light chain concentration in patients with delirium following hip fracture: a multicenter prospective study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Observational
- Blood ATX(N) Biomarkers and Cognitive Dysfunction in Severe Mental Illnesses.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Biomarkers, Cognitive Function, and Mortality in Centenarians.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Study of Plasma NFL and GFAP as Biomarkers of Alcohol Withdrawal-Associated Brain Injury.Addiction biology · 2026Observational
- Clarifications and response to "Validating plasma biomarkers for distinguishing neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders" by Boccardi et al.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Cross-Organ Neuroimmunology of Behavior.Annual review of immunology · 2026Review
- NfL and GFAP quantification and associations with mental health in recreational cannabis users-Results from the Swiss study on recreational cannabis access via pharmacies.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- Cerebrospinal fluid NPTX1 and NPTXR predict neurodegeneration and clinical progression in Alzheimer's disease.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Astroglial and Neuronal Injury Markers (GFAP, UCHL-1, NfL, Tau, S100B) as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers in PTSD and Neurological Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The recent introduction of new-generation immunoassay methods allows the reliable quantification of structural brain markers in peripheral matrices. Neurofilament light chain (NfL), a neuron-specific cytoskeletal component released in extracellular matrices after neuroaxonal impairment, is considered a promising blood marker of active brain pathology. Given its sensitivity to a wide range of neuropathological alterations, NfL has been suggested for the use in clinical practice as a highly sensitive, but unspecific tool to quantify active brain pathology. While large efforts have been put in characterizing its clinical profile in many neurological conditions, NfL has received far less attention as a potential biomarker in major psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we briefly introduce NfL as a marker of neuroaxonal injury, systematically review recent findings on cerebrospinal fluid and blood NfL levels in patients with primary psychiatric conditions and highlight the opportunities and pitfalls. Current evidence suggests an elevation of blood NfL levels in patients with major depression, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, anorexia nervosa, and substance use disorders compared to physiological states. However, blood NfL levels strongly vary across diagnostic entities, clinical stage, and patient subgroups, and are influenced by several demographic, clinical, and analytical factors, which require accurate characterization. Potential clinical applications of NfL measure in psychiatry are seen in diagnostic and prognostic algorithms, to exclude neurodegenerative disease, in the assessment of brain toxicity for different pharmacological compounds, and in the longitudinal monitoring of treatment response. The high inter-individual variability of NfL levels and the lack of neurobiological understanding of its release are some of the main current limitations. Overall, this primer aims to introduce researchers and clinicians to NfL measure in the psychiatric field and to provide a conceptual framework for future research directions.
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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.