The relationship between neurofilament light chain and cognition in neurological disorders: A scoping review

Abstract

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is an emerging biomarker of neural degeneration. NfL is an integral component of axons and is released into the bloodstream and cerebrospinal fluid during neurodegeneration; hence it can be used to monitor disease progression. Given that several neurological disorders are accompanied by cognitive decline, recent literature has investigated the relationship between NfL levels and cognition. The objective of this scoping review was to determine whether a consistent relationship between NfL and cognition exists in the context of variable degrees of neurodegeneration present across several neurological disorders. Four electronic databases were searched for relevant articles and 160 articles were initially identified. After article screening, 37 studies met the final inclusion criteria. Studies were then qualitatively synthesized to determine the relationship between NfL and cognition across a variety of neurological disorders. The large majority of studies found that NfL levels are inversely correlated with cognition, such that higher NfL levels are associated with poorer cognition. This relationship was not universal, however, and this discrepancy was speculated to be due to the nature of the neurological disorder, individual differences between participants, or methodological inconsistencies. Further study is required, and associated recommendations were proposed for the design of future investigations.

The cognitive and psychiatric subacute impairment in severe Covid-19

“…In addition, there was an inverse correlation between NFL levels and the Components related to the measurement of episodic memory (Rho = − 0.310; p = 0.018), global cognition (Rho = − 0.297; p = 0.024) and to Executive functions (Rho = − 0.417; p = 0.001). NFL are markers of neuronal destruction whose correlation with global cognition has been described in the literature 74 . Plasma NFL levels could be a robust biomarker of this syndrome, and a recent study revealed that the course of its plasma concentrations is useful for determining the severity and prognosis of acute SARS-Cov-2 infection demanding hospitalization 30 .…”

Loss of intermediate filament IFB-1 reduces mobility, density and physiological function of mitochondria in C. elegans sensory neurons

“…Abnormal mitochondria distributions and neuronal IF accumulations is a hallmark of various neurological diseases 1,3,22 . Especially neurons are cells with high energy demand based on their dedicated functions such as synaptic activities.…”

“…IFs are divided into six classes based on their sequence homologies, and in mammalian neurons, a diverse set of IFs can be found, including synemin, peripherin, vimentin, nestin, α-internexin and neurofilaments (NFs). Abnormal accumulations of NFs is found in various neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), infantile spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Charcot-Marie-tooth (CMT) disease, Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) and hereditary sensorymotor neuropathy (HSMN); while many of the aforementioned IFs (specifically peripherin and αinternexin) are known to be central components of NFs [1][2][3] . IFs act as a molecular scaffold and regulate intracellular positioning of nucleus and organelles providing integrity to cells and tissues 4 .…”

The Cognitive and Psychiatric Subacute Impairment in severe Covid-19.

“…So, there was an inverse correlation between NFL levels and the Components related to the measurement of episodic memory (Rho=-0.310; p=0.018), global cognition (Rho=-0.297; p=0.024) and to Executive functions (Rho=-0,417; p=0.001). NFL are markers of neuronal destruction whose correlation with global cognition has been described in the literature 50 .…”