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AAIC 2021 | NfL as a biomarker in Alzheimer’s

Joyce Van Arendonk, MSc, of the Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Netherlands, gives a brief overview of the onset of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as well as an explanation of how neurofilament light chain (NfL) can be used as a biomarker to detect asymptomatic participants who may be at risk of developing AD. NfL is a protein found in the axons of neurons that helps regulate axon diameter, and therefore influences the conduction velocity of the neuron. NfL is a promising biomarker for dementia as it can be measured in the blood, and it has been associated with disease severity markers including brain pathology and cognitive deterioration. However, there is a lack of studies that investigate NfL in the general population, to observe whether there is an association between NfL and the underlying pathologies in the early phases of neurodegenerative disease. This interview took place during the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), 2021.