Comparison of CSF and plasma NfL and pNfH for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis: a memory clinic study

Abstract

BackgroundPlasma neuro lament light chain (NfL) is a promising biomarker of axonal and neuronal damage in central nervous system disorders, displaying potential for the differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. The heavy chain of the neuro laments, and speci cally the phosphorylated form (pNfH), has demonstrated its value in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis but has much less been explored in neurocognitive disorders. Our aim was to compare the positive and differential diagnosis performance of NfL, CSF and plasma pNfH in patients from daily clinical practice in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. MethodsIn a cross-sectional retrospective study, we compared NfL and pNfH levels in CSF and plasma for AD diagnosis in n = 188 patients from the

Evaluation of serum neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

“…Therefore, serum GFAP may be a better indicator of cognitive impairment than NfL when MCI is diagnosed by physicians, especially when the type of MCI is not distinguished. In fact, two studies have shown that plasma NfL cannot differentiate between MCI and AD without further explanation (36,37). A limitation of this study is that, apart from a detailed grouping of MCI, we did not measure cerebrospinal fluid markers or PET of brain Aβ plaques.…”

“…Therefore, serum GFAP may be a better indicator of cognitive impairment than NfL when MCI is diagnosed by physicians, especially when the type of MCI is not distinguished. In fact, two studies have shown that plasma NfL cannot differentiate between MCI and AD without further explanation ( 36 , 37 ).…”