{"id":"doi:10.3390/ijms27198574","kind":"review","title":"Plasma Neurofilament Light Chain as a Complementary Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","authors":["Kim KY","Shin KY","Chang KA"],"author_count":3,"year":2026,"published":"2026-09-25","venue":"International journal of molecular sciences","cited_by":0,"doi":"10.3390/ijms27198574","arxiv_id":null,"nct_id":null,"source_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27198574","archive_url":"https://space-kitty.com/papers/doi:10.3390/ijms27198574","updated":null,"pmid":"42883821","pmcid":"PMC13664730","openalex_id":null,"pdf_url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13664730/pdf","abstract":"Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline and memory loss, ultimately leading to a loss of independence and reduced quality of life. As current treatments are most effective in the early stages, reliable blood-based biomarkers are required for early diagnosis, therapeutic monitoring, and disease staging. Plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL), a marker of neuroaxonal injury, is a candidate biomarker; its value relative to established amyloid- and tau-based biomarkers is unclear. A systematic review and meta-analysis comparing plasma NfL with Aβ42, Aβ40, the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, and p-tau217 across cognitively normal (control, Con), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD groups was conducted. Fourteen studies that met specific criteria were included. Plasma NfL and p-tau217 increased across disease stages. Aβ42 and Aβ42/Aβ40 were lower in AD/MCI than in Con; Aβ40 was similar across groups. Heterogeneity (I 2 < 99%) was observed across biomarkers. Plasma NfL reliably reflected neuroaxonal injury and disease severity from the earliest clinically detectable stage of AD. Plasma NfL may be most valuable when combined with p-tau217/Aβ-based assays to provide a more comprehensive, blood-based assessment of both AD-specific pathology and neurodegeneration. Further studies are needed to validate its prognostic utility and establish clinically applicable cut-off values.","abstract_license":"CC-BY (article license as recorded by Europe PMC; abstract reproduced unmodified apart from markup removal)","license":"CC-BY","is_open_access":true,"retracted":false,"peer_reviewed":null,"categories":[],"details":null,"provenance":"europepmc","attribution":"Abstract of \"Plasma Neurofilament Light Chain as a Complementary Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis\" by Kim KY, Shin KY, Chang KA, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27198574, used under its Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY); markup removed, otherwise unmodified.","topics":[{"slug":"neurodegeneration","name":"Alzheimer's, Parkinson's & Neurodegeneration","domain_slug":"medicine"}],"cited_in_dossiers":[]}