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Increased plasma neurofilament light chain concentration correlates with severity of post-mortem neurofibrillary tangle pathology and neurodegeneration

Ashton, Nicholas J. ; Leuzy, Antoine ; Lim, Yau Mun ; Troakes, Claire ; Hortobágyi, Tibor ; Höglund, Kina ; Aarsland, Dag ; Lovestone, Simon ; Schöll, Michael LU and Blennow, Kaj LU , et al. (2019) In Acta Neuropathologica Communications 7(1).
Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is pathologically characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and widespread neuronal loss in the brain. In recent years, blood biomarkers have emerged as a realistic prospect to highlight accumulating pathology for secondary prevention trials. Neurofilament light chain (NfL), a marker of axonal degeneration, is robustly elevated in the blood of many neurological and neurodegenerative conditions, including AD. A strong relationship with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NfL suggests that these biomarker modalities reflect the same pathological process. Yet, the connection between blood NfL and brain tissue pathology has not been directly compared. In this study, longitudinal... (More)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is pathologically characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and widespread neuronal loss in the brain. In recent years, blood biomarkers have emerged as a realistic prospect to highlight accumulating pathology for secondary prevention trials. Neurofilament light chain (NfL), a marker of axonal degeneration, is robustly elevated in the blood of many neurological and neurodegenerative conditions, including AD. A strong relationship with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NfL suggests that these biomarker modalities reflect the same pathological process. Yet, the connection between blood NfL and brain tissue pathology has not been directly compared. In this study, longitudinal plasma NfL from cognitively healthy controls (n = 12) and AD participants (n = 57) were quantified by the Simoa platform. On reaching post-mortem, neuropathological assessment was performed on all participants, with additional frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue acquired from 26 participants for further biochemical (Aβ1-42, Aβ1-40, tau) and histological (NfL) evaluation. Plasma NfL concentrations were significantly increased in AD and correlated with cognitive decline, independent of age. Retrospective stratification based on Braak staging revealed that baseline plasma NfL concentrations were associated with higher neurofibrillary tangle pathology at post-mortem. Longitudinal increases in plasma NfL were observed in all Braak groupings; a significant negative association, however, was found between plasma NfL at time point 1 and both its rate of change and annual percentage increase. Immunohistochemical evaluation of NfL in the medial temporal gyrus (MTG) demonstrated an inverse relationship between Braak stages and NfL staining. Importantly, a significant negative correlation was found between the plasma NfL measurement closest to death and the level of NfL staining in the MTG at post-mortem. For the first time, we demonstrate that plasma NfL associates with the severity of neurofibrillary tangle pathology and neurodegeneration in the post-mortem brain.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Blood biomarkers, Braak, Neurofilament light chain, Post-mortem, Tau
in
Acta Neuropathologica Communications
volume
7
issue
1
article number
5
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:30626432
  • scopus:85059798236
ISSN
2051-5960
DOI
10.1186/s40478-018-0649-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3c3d6060-d275-47e2-b028-8ed12429066d
date added to LUP
2019-01-23 12:58:55
date last changed
2022-05-11 05:32:25
@article{3c3d6060-d275-47e2-b028-8ed12429066d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Alzheimer's disease (AD) is pathologically characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and widespread neuronal loss in the brain. In recent years, blood biomarkers have emerged as a realistic prospect to highlight accumulating pathology for secondary prevention trials. Neurofilament light chain (NfL), a marker of axonal degeneration, is robustly elevated in the blood of many neurological and neurodegenerative conditions, including AD. A strong relationship with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NfL suggests that these biomarker modalities reflect the same pathological process. Yet, the connection between blood NfL and brain tissue pathology has not been directly compared. In this study, longitudinal plasma NfL from cognitively healthy controls (n = 12) and AD participants (n = 57) were quantified by the Simoa platform. On reaching post-mortem, neuropathological assessment was performed on all participants, with additional frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue acquired from 26 participants for further biochemical (Aβ1-42, Aβ1-40, tau) and histological (NfL) evaluation. Plasma NfL concentrations were significantly increased in AD and correlated with cognitive decline, independent of age. Retrospective stratification based on Braak staging revealed that baseline plasma NfL concentrations were associated with higher neurofibrillary tangle pathology at post-mortem. Longitudinal increases in plasma NfL were observed in all Braak groupings; a significant negative association, however, was found between plasma NfL at time point 1 and both its rate of change and annual percentage increase. Immunohistochemical evaluation of NfL in the medial temporal gyrus (MTG) demonstrated an inverse relationship between Braak stages and NfL staining. Importantly, a significant negative correlation was found between the plasma NfL measurement closest to death and the level of NfL staining in the MTG at post-mortem. For the first time, we demonstrate that plasma NfL associates with the severity of neurofibrillary tangle pathology and neurodegeneration in the post-mortem brain.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ashton, Nicholas J. and Leuzy, Antoine and Lim, Yau Mun and Troakes, Claire and Hortobágyi, Tibor and Höglund, Kina and Aarsland, Dag and Lovestone, Simon and Schöll, Michael and Blennow, Kaj and Zetterberg, Henrik and Hye, Abdul}},
  issn         = {{2051-5960}},
  keywords     = {{Blood biomarkers; Braak; Neurofilament light chain; Post-mortem; Tau}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Acta Neuropathologica Communications}},
  title        = {{Increased plasma neurofilament light chain concentration correlates with severity of post-mortem neurofibrillary tangle pathology and neurodegeneration}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40478-018-0649-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s40478-018-0649-3}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}