AlzBiomarker

Parkinson's Disease vs Alzheimer's Disease: YKL-40 (CSF)

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YKL-40 is thought to be a marker of glial activation and inflammation. Meta-analysis showed slightly lower levels of YKL-40 in the cerebrospinal fluid of people with Parkinson's disease than people with Alzheimer's disease (effect size = 0.863). However, only two studies contributed to the meta-analysis and the p value (0.009) was marginally significant. For comparison, meta-analysis of more than 30 eligible comparisons showed YKL-40 in the CSF of control subjects to be about three-quarters that of people with AD.

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How to interpret a forest plot: Each individual effect size (ES) is a ratio of the mean biomarker level in one condition over the mean level in another condition. An ES equal to 1 means that the two conditions had identical mean values. An ES > 1 indicates higher levels in the first condition, whereas an ES < 1 indicates lower levels in the first condition. The overall ES, indicated by a black diamond, is a weighted average of the individual effect sizes. The weight of each data point was determined by the inverse of the variance and is reflected in the size of each square. The width of the overall ES diamond is determined by the 95 percent confidence interval. Data out of range of the scale, including ES and confidence intervals, are indicated by an arrowhead at the edge of the plot, when applicable. 

Version 3.0, July 2021.