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Serum neurofilament light chain, brain infarcts, and the risk of stroke: a prospective population-based cohort study

  • NEURO-EPIDEMIOLOGY
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Abstract

Neurofilament light chain (NfL), a neuron-specific protein, has been related to several neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, elevated levels of NfL have also been observed in patients admitted to the hospital for stroke, suggesting that NfL as a biomarker may extend well beyond neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, using data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP), a population-based cohort study, we prospectively investigated the association of serum NfL levels with incident stroke and brain infarcts. During a follow-up of 3603 person-years, 133 (16.3%) individuals developed incident stroke, including ischemic and hemorrhagic. The HR (95%CI) of incident stroke was 1.28 (95%CI 1.10–1.50) per 1 standard deviation (SD) increase of log10 NfL serum levels. Compared to participants in the first tertile of NfL (i.e., lower levels), the risk of stroke was 1.68 times higher (95%CI 1.07–2.65) in those in the second tertile and 2.35 times higher (95%CI 1.45–3.81) in those in the third tertile of NfL. NfL levels were also positively associated with brain infarcts; 1-SD in log10 NfL levels was associated with 1.32 (95%CI 1.06–1.66) higher odds of one or more brain infarcts. These results suggest that NfL may serve as a biomarker of stroke in older adults.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all participants of the CHAP study and the research assistants, psychologists, and physicians for their efforts in the conduct of the fieldwork.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Aging of the National Institute of Health under Award Number: R01AG051635, RF1AG057532, R01AG073627, R01AG058675, U19NS120384, P30AG072972 and T32AG050061. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, 1700 W Van Buren, Suite 245, Chicago, IL, 60612, US

    Anisa Dhana, Klodian Dhana, Pankaja Desai, Denis A. Evans & Kumar B. Rajan

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, US

    Anisa Dhana, Klodian Dhana, Pankaja Desai, Denis A. Evans & Kumar B. Rajan

  3. Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, Sacramento, CA, US

    Charles DeCarli

  4. Department of Neurological Sciences and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, US

    Neelum T. Aggarwal

  5. Department of Neurology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, US

    Neelum T. Aggarwal

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  1. Anisa Dhana
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Contributions

Conception and design of the study (AD, CSD, NTA, KD, PD, DAE, KBR). Acquisition and analysis of data (AD, CSD, KBR). Drafting a significant portion of the manuscript or figures (AD, CSD, NTA, KD, PD, KBR).

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Correspondence to Anisa Dhana.

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The study was approved by the Rush University Medical Center Institutional Review Board. All study participants provided written informed consent.

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Dhana, A., DeCarli, C., Aggarwal, N.T. et al. Serum neurofilament light chain, brain infarcts, and the risk of stroke: a prospective population-based cohort study. Eur J Epidemiol 38, 427–434 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-023-00978-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-023-00978-6

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