The Added Value of Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurofilament Light Chain to Existing Diagnostic Methods and Biomarkers in a Mixed Memory Clinic Cohort of Consecutive Patients

Helena Sophia Gleerup; Anja Hviid Simonsen; Peter Høgh

doi:10.3233/ADR-210047

The Added Value of Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurofilament Light Chain to Existing Diagnostic Methods and Biomarkers in a Mixed Memory Clinic Cohort of Consecutive Patients

J Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2022 Mar 25;6(1):121-127. doi: 10.3233/ADR-210047. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Helena Sophia Gleerup¹, Anja Hviid Simonsen¹, Peter Høgh^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Danish Dementia Research Centre (DDRC), Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
² Department of Neurology, Regional Dementia Research Centre, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark.
³ Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Abstract

The added value of neurofilament light chain (NfL) to the existing diagnostic methods is unknown, although a plethora of studies have shown increased levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood in many neurodegenerative and neurological disorders. The added value of CSF NfL was determined in a mixed memory clinic cohort of consecutive patients for 136 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n = 69), mild cognitive impairment (n = 24), non-AD (n = 34), and also healthy controls (n = 9). This study found no increase in the diagnostic accuracy of the etiological diagnoses but knowing the CSF NfL value led to increased diagnostic certainty for the specialist in neurology.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; biomarkers; cerebrospinal fluid; dementia; neurofilament light chain.