Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance
BackgroundThe usefulness of neurofilament light (NfL) as a biomarker for small vessel disease has not been established. We examined the relationship between NfL, neuroimaging changes, and clinical findings in subjects with varying degrees of white matter hyperintensity (WMH).MethodsA subgroup of par...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.939155/full |
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| author | Marge Kartau Susanna Melkas Joonas Kartau Anne Arola Hanna Laakso Johanna Pitkänen Juha Lempiäinen Juha Koikkalainen Juha Koikkalainen Jyrki Lötjönen Jyrki Lötjönen Antti Korvenoja Matti Ahlström Sanna-Kaisa Herukka Timo Erkinjuntti Hanna Jokinen |
| author_facet | Marge Kartau Susanna Melkas Joonas Kartau Anne Arola Hanna Laakso Johanna Pitkänen Juha Lempiäinen Juha Koikkalainen Juha Koikkalainen Jyrki Lötjönen Jyrki Lötjönen Antti Korvenoja Matti Ahlström Sanna-Kaisa Herukka Timo Erkinjuntti Hanna Jokinen |
| author_sort | Marge Kartau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundThe usefulness of neurofilament light (NfL) as a biomarker for small vessel disease has not been established. We examined the relationship between NfL, neuroimaging changes, and clinical findings in subjects with varying degrees of white matter hyperintensity (WMH).MethodsA subgroup of participants (n = 35) in the Helsinki Small Vessel Disease Study underwent an analysis of NfL in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as well as brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological and motor performance assessments. WMH and structural brain volumes were obtained with automatic segmentation.ResultsCSF NfL did not correlate significantly with total WMH volume (r = 0.278, p = 0.105). However, strong correlations were observed between CSF NfL and volumes of cerebral grey matter (r = −0.569, p < 0.001), cerebral cortex (r = −0.563, p < 0.001), and hippocampi (r = −0.492, p = 0.003). CSF NfL also correlated with composite measures of global cognition (r = −0.403, p = 0.016), executive functions (r = −0.402, p = 0.017), memory (r = −0.463, p = 0.005), and processing speed (r = −0.386, p = 0.022). Regarding motor performance, CSF NfL was correlated with Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (r = 0.531, p = 0.001), and gait speed (r = −0.450, p = 0.007), but not with single-leg stance. After adjusting for age, associations with volumes in MRI, functional mobility (TUG), and gait speed remained significant, whereas associations with cognitive performance attenuated below the significance level despite medium to large effect sizes.ConclusionNfL was strongly related to global gray matter and hippocampal atrophy, but not to WMH severity. NfL was also associated with motor performance. Our results suggest that NfL is independently associated with brain atrophy and functional mobility, but is not a reliable marker for cerebral small vessel disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:49:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f34f58a330184fe0a784af8f6d73d6e3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1663-4365 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:49:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-f34f58a330184fe0a784af8f6d73d6e32023-01-05T10:10:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience1663-43652023-01-011410.3389/fnagi.2022.939155939155Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performanceMarge Kartau0Susanna Melkas1Joonas Kartau2Anne Arola3Hanna Laakso4Johanna Pitkänen5Juha Lempiäinen6Juha Koikkalainen7Juha Koikkalainen8Jyrki Lötjönen9Jyrki Lötjönen10Antti Korvenoja11Matti Ahlström12Sanna-Kaisa Herukka13Timo Erkinjuntti14Hanna Jokinen15Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDivision of Neuropsychology, HUS Neurocenter, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDivision of Neuropsychology, HUS Neurocenter, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandCombinostics Ltd, Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, FinlandCombinostics Ltd, Tampere, FinlandDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, FinlandMedical Imaging Center, Radiology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandInstitute of Clinical Medicine/Neurology, University of Eastern Finland, Helsinki, FinlandDepartment of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandDivision of Neuropsychology, HUS Neurocenter, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandBackgroundThe usefulness of neurofilament light (NfL) as a biomarker for small vessel disease has not been established. We examined the relationship between NfL, neuroimaging changes, and clinical findings in subjects with varying degrees of white matter hyperintensity (WMH).MethodsA subgroup of participants (n = 35) in the Helsinki Small Vessel Disease Study underwent an analysis of NfL in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as well as brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological and motor performance assessments. WMH and structural brain volumes were obtained with automatic segmentation.ResultsCSF NfL did not correlate significantly with total WMH volume (r = 0.278, p = 0.105). However, strong correlations were observed between CSF NfL and volumes of cerebral grey matter (r = −0.569, p < 0.001), cerebral cortex (r = −0.563, p < 0.001), and hippocampi (r = −0.492, p = 0.003). CSF NfL also correlated with composite measures of global cognition (r = −0.403, p = 0.016), executive functions (r = −0.402, p = 0.017), memory (r = −0.463, p = 0.005), and processing speed (r = −0.386, p = 0.022). Regarding motor performance, CSF NfL was correlated with Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (r = 0.531, p = 0.001), and gait speed (r = −0.450, p = 0.007), but not with single-leg stance. After adjusting for age, associations with volumes in MRI, functional mobility (TUG), and gait speed remained significant, whereas associations with cognitive performance attenuated below the significance level despite medium to large effect sizes.ConclusionNfL was strongly related to global gray matter and hippocampal atrophy, but not to WMH severity. NfL was also associated with motor performance. Our results suggest that NfL is independently associated with brain atrophy and functional mobility, but is not a reliable marker for cerebral small vessel disease.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.939155/fullneurofilament lightsmall vessel diseasewhite matter hyperintensitiesbrain atrophymotor performancecognitive performance |
| spellingShingle | Marge Kartau Susanna Melkas Joonas Kartau Anne Arola Hanna Laakso Johanna Pitkänen Juha Lempiäinen Juha Koikkalainen Juha Koikkalainen Jyrki Lötjönen Jyrki Lötjönen Antti Korvenoja Matti Ahlström Sanna-Kaisa Herukka Timo Erkinjuntti Hanna Jokinen Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience neurofilament light small vessel disease white matter hyperintensities brain atrophy motor performance cognitive performance |
| title | Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance |
| title_full | Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance |
| title_fullStr | Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance |
| title_short | Neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy, and cognitive and motor performance |
| title_sort | neurofilament light level correlates with brain atrophy and cognitive and motor performance |
| topic | neurofilament light small vessel disease white matter hyperintensities brain atrophy motor performance cognitive performance |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.939155/full |
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