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Elevated plasma neurofilament light in aging reflects brain white-matter alterations but does not predict cognitive decline or Alzheimer's disease

Nyberg, L; Lundquist, A; Nordin Adolfsson, A; Andersson, M; Zetterberg, H; Blennow, K; Adolfsson, R; (2020) Elevated plasma neurofilament light in aging reflects brain white-matter alterations but does not predict cognitive decline or Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring , 12 (1) , Article e12050. 10.1002/dad2.12050. Green open access

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Abstract

Introduction: We investigated neurofilament light (NFL) accumulation in normal aging as well as in preclinical and clinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) and assessed individual differences in NFL load in relation to cognition and brain white-matter integrity. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data covering 30 years (1988-2017). Cognitive testing was done up to six times. Plasma NFL was quantified for controls and 142 cases who developed AD over time, and longitudinal changes in NFL were quantified for 100 individuals with three brain-imaging sessions. Results: Longitudinal analyses revealed age-related NFL increases with marked variability. AD cases had elevated NFL levels, while no significant group differences were seen in the preclinical phase. Variability in NFL levels showed non-significant correlations with cognition but was associated with brain white matter. Discussion: Our findings suggest that elevated blood NFL, likely reflecting brain white-matter alterations, characterizes clinical AD, while NFL levels do not predict age-related cognitive impairment or impending AD.

Type: Article
Title: Elevated plasma neurofilament light in aging reflects brain white-matter alterations but does not predict cognitive decline or Alzheimer's disease
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/dad2.12050
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12050
Language: English
Additional information: © 2020 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, biomarker, brain white matter, cognition, early prediction, longitudinal, neurofilament light
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Neurodegenerative Diseases
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10105169
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