Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38735950›Full record

ArticleBMC medicine2024

Peripheral GFAP and NfL as early biomarkers for dementia: longitudinal insights from the UK Biobank.

Xiaofei Wang, Ziyan Shi, Yuhan Qiu, Dongren Sun, Hongyu Zhou

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Article in BMC medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
75citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

75 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. A First-In-Class Antibody Enabling Detection of Altered Peripheral Non-Phosphorylated Clusterin With Translational Potential in Dementia.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
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15 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

5 authors.

Xiaofei WangDepartment of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No.28 Dianxin Nan Street, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Ziyan ShiDepartment of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No.28 Dianxin Nan Street, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Yuhan QiuDepartment of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No.28 Dianxin Nan Street, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Dongren SunDepartment of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No.28 Dianxin Nan Street, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Hongyu ZhouDepartment of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No.28 Dianxin Nan Street, Chengdu, 610041, China. zhouhy@scu.edu.cn.

Funding

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation 2023M732455Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province 2022NSFSC1432Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province 2022YFS0315
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeripheral glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) are sensitive markers of neuroinflammation and neuronal damage. Previous studies with highly selected participants have shown that peripheral GFAP and NfL levels are elevated in the pre-clinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia. However, the predictive value of GFAP and NfL for dementia requires more evidence from population-based cohorts.

methodsThis was a prospective cohort study to evaluate UK Biobank participants enrolled from 2006 to 2010 using plasma GFAP and NfL measurements measured by Olink Target Platform and prospectively followed up for dementia diagnosis. Primary outcome was the risk of clinical diagnosed dementia. Secondary outcomes were cognition. Linear regression was used to assess the associations between peripheral GFAP and NfL with cognition. Cox proportional hazard models with cross-validations were used to estimate associations between elevated GFAP and NfL with risk of dementia. All models were adjusted for covariates.

resultsA subsample of 48,542 participants in the UK Biobank with peripheral GFAP and NfL measurements were evaluated. With an average follow-up of 13.18 ± 2.42 years, 1312 new all-cause dementia cases were identified. Peripheral GFAP and NfL increased up to 15 years before dementia diagnosis was made. After strictly adjusting for confounders, increment in NfL was found to be associated with decreased numeric memory and prolonged reaction time. A greater annualized rate of change in GFAP was significantly associated with faster global cognitive decline. Elevation of GFAP (hazard ratio (HR) ranges from 2.25 to 3.15) and NfL (HR ranges from 1.98 to 4.23) increased the risk for several types of dementia. GFAP and NfL significantly improved the predictive values for dementia using previous models (area under the curve (AUC) ranges from 0.80 to 0.89, C-index ranges from 0.86 to 0.91). The AD genetic risk score and number of APOE*E4 alleles strongly correlated with GFAP and NfL levels.

conclusionsThese results suggest that peripheral GFAP and NfL are potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis of dementia. In addition, anti-inflammatory therapies in the initial stages of dementia may have potential benefits.

Indexed as

DementiaGlial Fibrillary Acidic ProteinNeurofilament ProteinsAgedBiomarkersFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesUK BiobankUnited KingdomBiomarkersGFAP protein, humanGlial Fibrillary Acidic Proteinneurofilament protein LNeurofilament ProteinsBiomarkerCognitive functionGenetic riskPredictive value

Identifiers

PMID38735950
PMCPMC11089788

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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.