A study maps the order of biomarker and clinical changes across frontotemporal degeneration syndromes
Original source
Temporal order of clinical, imaging, and biomarker changes in frontotemporal lobar degeneration-associated syndromes. (opens in a new tab)Compass summarised this from the study's abstract.
Study details
- Studied in
- Human
Related topics
A data-driven model mapped the timing of blood, brain-imaging and clinical changes in 489 people with frontotemporal lobar degeneration-associated syndromes. Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein changed earliest overall, followed by Trail Making Test Part B performance, white-matter lesion volume and neurofilament light chain. The analysis included 12 people with frontotemporal dementia associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Why this matters
The findings may help researchers study disease stages and design trials around stage-specific measures. They do not establish a treatment benefit or change treatment for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or frontotemporal dementia at this stage.
Limitations and context
This was a longitudinal modelling study using 1,904 patient visits across 489 people, including several different frontotemporal degeneration syndromes. The ALS-related subgroup was small, with 12 participants. The study identified temporal patterns and proposed a framework; it did not test a treatment or show that these biomarkers can yet guide individual care.