Diabetes Mellitus is Associated With Higher Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in the General US Population
Authors' conclusion
Diabetes is associated with higher sNfL. Further large-scale and prospective studies are needed to replicate our results and evaluate the ability of sNfL to predict the incidence of neuropathy and dementia in this patient population.
Study context
- Population
- People aged 20 to 75 years from the general US population, 2013–2014 NHANES cycle
- Participants
- 2,070 people
- Exposure
- Diabetes vs no diabetes
- Diabetesn = 275
- No diabetesn = 1,795reference
- Outcome
- Association between diabetes and sNfL levels, adjusted for age, sex, race-ethnicity, alcohol use and kidney function
Methodological detailspopulation-based, NHANES 2013-2014, multivariable linear regression
- Population-based
- NHANES 2013-2014
- Multivariable linear regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
sNfL levels
- In each age stratum, patients with diabetes had higher sNfL levels than nondiabetic participants
- In the multivariable model, age, sex, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), alcohol use and diabetes were significantly associated with sNfL levels
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Weighted prevalence of diabetes
- Weighted prevalence of diabetes
- 10.4% (95% CI, 9.0-11.9)
Characteristics across sNfL quartiles
- Age, proportion of males, diabetes prevalence and HOMA-IR increased progressively across sNfL quartiles; eGFR showed an opposite trend
Cognitive function (subset aged 60 to 75 years)
- Higher sNfL levels associated with worse performance in all 3 cognitive function tests
Original publication
Diabetes Mellitus is Associated With Higher Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Levels in the General US Population. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published 5 October 2022. doi:10.
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