Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct 22:11:700-709.
doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2019.08.008. eCollection 2019 Dec.

Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma neurofilament light relate to abnormal cognition

Katie E Osborn  1 , Omair A Khan  1   2 , Hailey A Kresge  1 , Corey W Bown  1 , Dandan Liu  1   2 , Elizabeth E Moore  1 , Katherine A Gifford  1 , Lealani Mae Y Acosta  1 , Susan P Bell  1   3 , Timothy J Hohman  1   4 , Kaj Blennow  5   6 , Henrik Zetterberg  5   6   7   8 , Angela L Jefferson  1
Affiliations

Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma neurofilament light relate to abnormal cognition

Katie E Osborn et al. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). .

Abstract

Introduction: Neuroaxonal damage may contribute to cognitive changes preceding clinical dementia. Accessible biomarkers are critical for detecting such damage.

Methods: Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light (NFL) were related to neuropsychological performance among Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants (plasma n = 333, 73 ± 7 years; CSF n = 149, 72 ± 6 years) ranging from normal cognition (NC) to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, apolipoprotein E ε4 carriership, and Framingham Stroke Risk Profile.

Results: Plasma NFL was related to all domains (P values ≤ .008) except processing speed (P values ≥ .09). CSF NFL was related to memory and language (P values ≤ .04). Interactions with cognitive diagnosis revealed widespread plasma associations, particularly in MCI participants, which were further supported in head-to-head comparison models.

Discussion: Plasma and CSF NFL (reflecting neuroaxonal injury) relate to cognition among non-demented older adults albeit with small to medium effects. Plasma NFL shows particular promise as an accessible biomarker with relevance to cognition in MCI.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Cerebrospinal fluid; Cognition; Mild cognitive impairment; Neurofilament light; Plasma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participant inclusion and exclusion diagram. Abbreviation: CSF, cerebrospinal fluid.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Plasma NFL and episodic memory scatterplot by diagnostic status. Abbreviations: NFL, neurofilament light; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; NC, normal cognition.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
CSF NFL and episodic memory scatterplot by diagnostic status. Abbreviations: CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; NFL, neurofilament light; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; NC, normal cognition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Petzold A. Neurofilament phosphoforms: surrogate markers for axonal injury, degeneration and loss. J Neurol Sci. 2005;233:183–198. - PubMed
    1. Skillback T., Farahmand B., Bartlett J.W., Rosen C., Mattsson N., Nagga K. CSF neurofilament light differs in neurodegenerative diseases and predicts severity and survival. Neurology. 2014;83:1945–1953. - PubMed
    1. Bacioglu M., Maia L.F., Preische O., Schelle J., Apel A., Kaeser S.A. Neurofilament light chain in blood and CSF as marker of disease progression in mouse models and in neurodegenerative diseases. Neuron. 2016;91:494–496. - PubMed
    1. Osborn K.E., Liu D., Samuels L.R., Moore E.E., Cambronero F.E., Acosta L.M.Y. Cerebrospinal fluid β-amyloid42 and neurofilament light relate to white matter hyperintensities. Neurobiol Aging. 2018;68:18–25. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moore E.E., Hohman T.J., Badami F.S., Pechman K.R., Osborn K.E., Acosta L.M.Y. Neurofilament relates to white matter microstructure in older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2018;70:233–241. - PMC - PubMed