Human narcolepsy is linked to degeneration of both locus coeruleus and hypocretin neurons.

Thomas C Thannickal, Ming-Fung Wu, Marcia E Cornford, Jerome M Siegel

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

2citing papers in PubMed

–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

Narcolepsy is (not) an autoimmune disease.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026
Review
First-of-its-kind narcolepsy drug opens door to new therapies for the brain.Nature · 2026
Article

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

4 authors.

Thomas C ThannickalNeuropsychiatric Institute and Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1623-9545

Ming-Fung WuNeuropsychiatric Institute and Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7591-8743

Marcia E CornfordDepartment of Pathology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.

Jerome M SiegelNeuropsychiatric Institute and Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. jsiegel@ucla.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2898-0111

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Earlier studies led to the conclusion that human narcolepsy with cataplexy was correlated with the loss of hypocretin (Hcrt = orexin) neurons in the hypothalamus. We now report that individuals having narcolepsy with cataplexy also have an average 46% loss in the number and an 18% increase in the size of brainstem norepinephrine neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC), based on our analysis of 11 brains of individuals having narcolepsy with cataplexy. Microglial clustering around Hcrt neurons in the hypothalamus and around noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus of individuals having narcolepsy with cataplexy indicates microglial involvement in the degeneration of both of these neuronal groups.

Indexed as

Locus CoeruleusNarcolepsyNeuronsOrexinsAdrenergic NeuronsAdultCataplexyFemaleHumansHypothalamusIntracellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsMaleMicrogliaMiddle AgedNeuropeptidesIntracellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsNeuropeptidesOrexins

Identifiers

PMID41904178

DOI10.1038/s41467-026-70899-x

PMCPMC13237025

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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.