Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
BackgroundSerum Neurofilament Light chain (NfL) is a promising biomarker of neuronal damage, used to assess the extent of neuronal injury and neurodegeneration, and it is widely applied in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease and monitoring disease progression. This article aims to determine w...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2025.1517663/full |
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| author | Tianjiao Meng Qinwen Fei Tian Lv Shiqin Chen |
| author_facet | Tianjiao Meng Qinwen Fei Tian Lv Shiqin Chen |
| author_sort | Tianjiao Meng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundSerum Neurofilament Light chain (NfL) is a promising biomarker of neuronal damage, used to assess the extent of neuronal injury and neurodegeneration, and it is widely applied in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease and monitoring disease progression. This article aims to determine whether serum NfL associated with cognitive level.MethodsUsing NHANES data, we conducted an analysis of cognitive test results for 450 adults aged 60 years and older and examined their correlation with serum NfL levels. When exploring the association between cognitive test scores and serum NfL levels, regression models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression models were employed to adjust for potential confounding factors. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was applied for identifying key cognitive impairment factors, which was then included in the establishment of a risk prediction nomogram model, with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve being built to evaluate its discriminatory power for cognitive impairment.ResultsIt was found that there is a strong positive correlation between serum NfL levels and both low total cognitive function (total-CF) OR: 1.028 (95%CI = 1.015–1.041 p < 0.001) and low Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) OR: 1.026 (95%CI = 1.003–1.050, p = 0.027). Furthermore, using the RCS model, we observed a linear trend in the relationship between NfL and low total-CF. The nomogram model based on NfL identified by LASSO regression displayed a considerable predicative value for low total-CF, with an area under the curve [AUC = 85.6% (81.6–89.3%)].ConclusionThere is a strong correlation between serum NfL levels and cognitive function, especially DSST, which reflects attention and information processing abilities, as well as overall cognitive function, but not memory and language fluency. Thus, NfL may serve as a serum biomarker for dementia monitoring. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-825b51dd184a471bae90b369da93c703 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1663-4365 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-825b51dd184a471bae90b369da93c7032025-01-20T07:20:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience1663-43652025-01-011710.3389/fnagi.2025.15176631517663Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination SurveyTianjiao Meng0Qinwen Fei1Tian Lv2Shiqin Chen3Department of Neurology, Zhuji Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhuji, ChinaDepartment of Geriatrics, Zhuji Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhuji, ChinaDepartment of Neurology, Zhuji Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhuji, ChinaDepartment of Neurology, Second People's Hospital of Yuhuan, Yuhuan, ChinaBackgroundSerum Neurofilament Light chain (NfL) is a promising biomarker of neuronal damage, used to assess the extent of neuronal injury and neurodegeneration, and it is widely applied in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease and monitoring disease progression. This article aims to determine whether serum NfL associated with cognitive level.MethodsUsing NHANES data, we conducted an analysis of cognitive test results for 450 adults aged 60 years and older and examined their correlation with serum NfL levels. When exploring the association between cognitive test scores and serum NfL levels, regression models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression models were employed to adjust for potential confounding factors. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was applied for identifying key cognitive impairment factors, which was then included in the establishment of a risk prediction nomogram model, with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve being built to evaluate its discriminatory power for cognitive impairment.ResultsIt was found that there is a strong positive correlation between serum NfL levels and both low total cognitive function (total-CF) OR: 1.028 (95%CI = 1.015–1.041 p < 0.001) and low Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) OR: 1.026 (95%CI = 1.003–1.050, p = 0.027). Furthermore, using the RCS model, we observed a linear trend in the relationship between NfL and low total-CF. The nomogram model based on NfL identified by LASSO regression displayed a considerable predicative value for low total-CF, with an area under the curve [AUC = 85.6% (81.6–89.3%)].ConclusionThere is a strong correlation between serum NfL levels and cognitive function, especially DSST, which reflects attention and information processing abilities, as well as overall cognitive function, but not memory and language fluency. Thus, NfL may serve as a serum biomarker for dementia monitoring.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2025.1517663/fullcognitive functionserum neurofilament light chainRCSnomogramNHANES |
| spellingShingle | Tianjiao Meng Qinwen Fei Tian Lv Shiqin Chen Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience cognitive function serum neurofilament light chain RCS nomogram NHANES |
| title | Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
| title_full | Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
| title_fullStr | Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
| title_short | Association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
| title_sort | association of serum neurofilament light chain with cognitive impairment findings from the national health and nutrition examination survey |
| topic | cognitive function serum neurofilament light chain RCS nomogram NHANES |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2025.1517663/full |
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