Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology (Jan 2024)

Association of insulin-like growth factor-1 and neurofilament light chain in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy

  • Saikat Dey,
  • Ramachadra Yelamanchi,
  • Thrinath Mullapudi,
  • Vikram V Holla,
  • Nitish Kamble,
  • Rohan R Mahale,
  • Talakad N Sathyaprabha,
  • Pramod K Pal,
  • Monojit Debnath,
  • Ravi Yadav

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/aian.aian_507_23
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 1
pp. 40 – 45

Abstract

Read online

Background: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is the most common primary tauopathy. The definite diagnosis of PSP is established by histopathologic changes in the brain. There are no reliable blood-based biomarkers to aid the diagnosis of this fatal disease at an early stage. Also, the precise etiopathology of PSP and its variants is inadequately understood. Objective: Blood-based molecules such as neurofilament light chain (NfL) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are shown as important markers of neurodegenerative and aging processes, respectively. These two biomarkers have not been analyzed simultaneously in PSP patients. Methods: To address this knowledge gap, 40 PSP patients and equal number of healthy individuals were recruited and serum levels of NfL and IGF-1 were assayed in all the study participants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Motor and nonmotor symptoms were evaluated in PSP patients using various scales/questionnaires. Cardiac autonomic function tests were performed in a subset of patients (n = 27). Results: A significantly high serum level of NfL (P < 0.01) and a reduced level of IGF-1 (P = 0.02) were observed in PSP patients compared to healthy controls. Besides, a negative correlation (r = -0.54, P < 0.01) between NfL and IGF-1 levels was observed in PSP patients. Conclusion: The finding of this study reinforces the important role of blood NfL level as a potential biomarker of PSP. Further, the current study provides novel insights into the reciprocal correlation between NfL and IGF-1 in PSP patients. Combined analysis of blood levels of these two functionally relevant markers might be useful in the prediction and diagnosis of PSP.

Keywords