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Serum Cystatin C is a potential biomarker for predicting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis survival

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Abstract

Objective

Currently, it is unclear whether serum Cystatin C can be used to evaluate the prognosis of ALS. We aim to study the relationship between serum Cystatin C and survival in ALS.

Methods

Sporadic ALS patients diagnosed at the Department of Neurology, the First Medical Center, and the Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2016 to December 2019 were enrolled in this study. Experienced neurologists followed up the participants regularly every 6 months until January 2022. According to the levels of serum Cystatin C, the participants were divided into high and low Cystatin C levels groups. The comparison between groups was performed with parametric or non-parametric test. Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression model were used to calculate survival analysis.

Results

Three hundred fifty-six sporadic ALS patients were enrolled in this study, including 203 males and 153 females. Among all ALS patients, 26 cases (7.3%) were lost to follow-up, 226 cases (63.5%) died, and 104 cases (29.2%) were still alive at the last follow-up. The median survival time of all ALS patients was 42.0 months. Patients with high Cystatin C levels had shorter median survival than those with lower Cystatin C levels (38.0 months vs. 48.0 months, P = 2.58 × 10−4). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, onset form, age of onset, diagnostic delay, disease progression rate, creatinine, and serum Cystatin C levels were associated with ALS survival.

Conclusions

Our study found that serum Cystatin C was associated with ALS survival, and serum Cystatin C level might be an independent predictor of ALS survival.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for all the participants who contributed to the study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yahui Zhu and Yunyun Huo contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China

    Yahui Zhu, Jiao Wang & Xusheng Huang

  2. Department of Neurology, the First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China

    Yahui Zhu, Yunyun Huo, Jiongming Bai, Mao Li, Hongfen Wang, Jiao Wang & Xusheng Huang

  3. College of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

    Jiongming Bai

Authors
  1. Yahui Zhu
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  2. Yunyun Huo
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  4. Mao Li
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  5. Hongfen Wang
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  6. Jiao Wang
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  7. Xusheng Huang
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Xusheng Huang; Methodology: Yahui Zhu, Yunyun Huo, Jiongming Bai; formal analysis and investigation: Yahui Zhu, Yunyun Huo, Jiongming Bai, Mao Li, Hongfen Wang, Jiao Wang; writing—original draft preparation: Yahui Zhu; writing—review and editing: Xusheng Huang; Resources: Yahui Zhu; supervision: Xusheng Huang, Yahui Zhu, Yunyun Huo. All authors approved the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xusheng Huang.

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Ethical approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Chinese PLA General Hospital.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zhu, Y., Huo, Y., Bai, J. et al. Serum Cystatin C is a potential biomarker for predicting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis survival. Neurol Sci 45, 197–201 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-023-06957-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-023-06957-9

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