Background:
Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder. Elevations of neurofilament light chain (NfL) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood are a marker of neuronal/axonal injury and degeneration. However, CSF and blood NfL alterations in patients with PD from existing studies remain inconclusive. To better understand these conflicting data, we will conduct a meta-analysis.
Methods:
We will comprehensively search PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from each database's inception to 7th June, 2020. This protocol will conform to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols. We will only include original studies published in English that evaluated differences of NfL concentrations in the CSF or blood between idiopathic PD patients and healthy controls. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale will be used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Meta-analyses will be carried out using the STATA software version 13.0. Between-group difference of NfL concentrations in the CSF and blood will be expressed as the weighted standardized mean difference. A random-effects model will be used. Supplementary analyses, such as heterogeneity analysis, sensitivity analysis, publication bias, subgroup analysis, and meta-regression analysis will be performed.
Results:
The meta-analysis will provide the differences of NfL concentrations in the CSF and blood between patients with PD and healthy controls and will show the magnitudes of their effect sizes.
Conclusions:
This meta-analysis will provide the evidence of NfL concentrations in the CSF and blood in PD and we hope that our study has an important impact on clinical practice.
Registration number:
INPLASY202060025
Background:
Neurofilament light chain (NfL), an index of neuroaxonal injury, is a promising diagnostic and prognostic fluid biomarker with high translational value in many neurodegenerative disorders. Blood NfL measurement has been an exciting and active field of research in idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonisms. However, blood NfL levels in these parkinsonisms from existing literature were inconsistent. No comprehensive meta-analysis has ever been conducted.
Methods:
Three major biomedical electronic databases PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were comprehensively searched from inception to July 10, 2020. This protocol will be prepared based on the guidelines recommended by the statement of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P). Original observational studies that measured blood (serum/plasma) NfL concentrations in patients with parkinsonisms (multiple system atrophy [MSA], progressive supranuclear palsy [PSP], corticobasal syndrome [CBS], and dementia with Lewy bodies [DLB]), and healthy controls (HCs) will be included. Quality assessment of the included studies will be performed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS). Meta-analyses will be conducted using the STATA software version 13.0. The standardized mean differences as the measure of effect size and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each comparison of blood NfL levels. Heterogeneity analysis, sensitivity analysis, publication bias, subgroup analysis, and meta-regression analysis will be carried out to test the robustness of the results.
Results:
The meta-analysis will obtain the effect sizes of blood NfL levels in the following comparisons: PD versus HC, MSA versus HC, PSP versus HC, CBS versus HC, DLB versus HC, MSA versus PD, PSP versus PD, CBS versus PD, and DLB versus PD.
Conclusions:
The present meta-analysis will provide the quantitative evidence of NfL levels in idiopathic PD and atypical parkinsonisms, hoping to facilitate differential diagnoses in clinical practice.
Registration number:
INPLASY202070091.
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