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A team from The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth has had a key study published in the Journal of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease. Lubnaa Abdullah, Psy.D., ABPP, assistant professor within the Department of Family and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Fan Zhang, PhD, James Hall, PhD, and Sid O鈥橞ryant, PhD, conducted the largest characterization of plasma neurofilament light chain in community-dwelling non-Hispanic Blacks.

鈥淲e know that among many Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease biomarkers, the biomarker outcomes vary by ethno-racial background, so this work aimed to fill in the gap within the literature to make steps toward a precision-diagnostic approach to enhance the reach of science to diverse populations at risk of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease,鈥� Dr. Abdullah said.

Baseline data were analyzed among 283 non-Hispanic Blacks from the multi-ethnic Health and Aging Brain Study- Health Disparities

鈥淥ur project is the largest characterization of plasma neurofilament light chain in community-dwelling non-Hispanic Blacks to be conducted鈥� Abdullah said. 鈥淣fL is a polypeptide protein and a marker of neurodegeneration; it reflects neuronal changes and cell death. As such, it is associated with several diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson鈥檚, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, NfL has been demonstrated in other studies to predict cognitive decline with a great deal of reliability. However, associations of NfL within diverse populations are lacking.鈥�

The project sought to determine how NfL values are associated with different cognitive outcomes. This type of study helps provide insight on how brain cell changes impact cognitive functioning. The main findings suggest that plasma NfL levels are significantly associated with measures of executive functioning, which elucidate NfL as a non-specific marker of neurodegeneration associated with efficiency of brain functions involving attention, processing, and generativity.

These outcomes demonstrate that NfL may be a sensitive measure for the detection of alterations in cognitive processing even before the onset of functional changes of neurodegeneration that are commonly associated with dementia, such as getting lost and forgetfulness.

Changes in processing speed and other executive functions typically happen before changes in memory occur in Alzheimer鈥檚. The current study provides evidence of this, and supports that changes in the coordination of multiple cognitive domains that direct attention and aid in memory retrieval occur before changes in memory.

However, NfL is not specific to AD alone, and the associations between NfL and cognition changed when participants were separated by diagnostic group, adding to the breadth of literature supporting the inconsistency of NfL as a specific biomarker of AD.

鈥淢any factors can impact the relationship between NfL and cognition. For example, having higher education may buffer against the cognitive effects of NfL. Additionally, economic instability, high stress levels, and low resiliency resources can increase levels of NfL. The impact of social determinants of health on NfL have been observed in studies on Huntington鈥檚 Disease patients, where higher NfL was associated with smaller social network size and diversity.鈥�

This work offers an initial understanding of the relationship of neurodegeneration with cognitive outcomes in community-dwelling non-Hispanic Blacks. Further research, utilizing longitudinal models, imaging biomarker data, and considering sociocultural impacts on biological factors could further clarify how plasma biomarkers, like NfL, relate to the cognitive trajectory in AD among Black Americans.