Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40417399›Full record

ArticleBrain communications2025

Evidence that minocycline treatment confounds the interpretation of neurofilament as a biomarker.

Juliana E Gentile, Christina N Heiss, Taylor L Corridon, Meredith A Mortberg, Stefanie Fruhwürth, Kenia Guzman, Lana Grötschel, Laia Montoliu-Gaya, Kwan Chan, Neil C Herring and 13 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing 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

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

  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. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Drug repurposing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Expert opinion on drug discovery · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Juliana E GentileProgram in Brain Health, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8389-4489
Christina N HeissDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal 431 80, Sweden.
Taylor L CorridonProgram in Brain Health, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Meredith A MortbergProgram in Brain Health, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Stefanie FruhwürthDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal 431 80, Sweden.
Kenia GuzmanComparative Medicine, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Lana GrötschelDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal 431 80, Sweden.
Laia Montoliu-GayaDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal 431 80, Sweden.
Kwan ChanComparative Medicine, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Neil C HerringClinical Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Timothy JanickiClinical Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Rajaa NhassClinical Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Janani Manavala SarathyClinical Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Brian EricksonIQ Proteomics, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
Ryan KunzIQ Proteomics, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
Alison EricksonIQ Proteomics, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
Craig BraunIQ Proteomics, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
Katherine T HenryIn Vivo Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Charles River Labs, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
Lynn BryClinical Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Steven E ArnoldMcCance Center for Brain Health and Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Eric Vallabh MinikelProgram in Brain Health, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Henrik ZetterbergDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal 431 80, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3930-4354
Sonia M VallabhProgram in Brain Health, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3824-2702

Funding

How Substrate Dosage Drives Prion Disease KineticsR01NS125255 · NINDS · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · PI Sonia Minikel Vallabh · 2022 to 2026
$2.7M
Biomarkers and Mechanisms of PrP Misfolding, Mutation, and DeficiencyR01NS132022 · NINDS · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · PI Eric Vallabh Minikel · 2024 to 2026
$1.9M
Biomarkers to enable ASO prevention trials in genetic prion disease carriersR21TR003040 · NCATS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI ARNOLD, STEVEN E · 2019 to 2020
$485k
NCATS NIH HHS R21 TR003040NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS125255NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS132022
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neurofilament light (NfL) concentration in CSF and blood serves as an important biomarker in neurology drug development. Changes in NfL are generally assumed to reflect changes in neuronal damage, while little is known about the clearance of NfL from biofluids. In a study of asymptomatic individuals at risk for prion disease, both blood and CSF NfL spiked in one participant following a 6-week course of minocycline, absent any other biomarker changes and without subsequent onset of symptoms. We subsequently observed high NfL after minocycline treatment in discarded clinical plasma samples from inpatients, in mouse plasma and in conditioned media from neuron-microglia co-cultures. The specificity and kinetics of NfL response lead us to hypothesize that minocycline does not cause or exacerbate neuronal damage, but instead affects NfL by inhibiting its clearance, posing a potential confounder for the interpretation of this important biomarker.

Indexed as

biomarkerCSFminocyclineneurofilament

Identifiers

PMID40417399
PMCPMC12100619

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.