Cerebrospinal fluid and blood levels of neurofilament light chain in Parkinson disease: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder. Elevations of neurofilament light chain (NfL) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood are a marker of neuronal/axonal injury and degeneration. However, CSF and blood NfL alterations in patients with PD from existing studies remain inconclusive. To better understand these conflicting data, we will conduct a meta-analysis. METHODS: We will comprehensively search PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from each database's inception to 7th June, 2020. This protocol will conform to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols. We will only include original studies published in English that evaluated differences of NfL concentrations in the CSF or blood between idiopathic PD patients and healthy controls. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale will be used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Meta-analyses will be carried out using the STATA software version 13.0. Between-group difference of NfL concentrations in the CSF and blood will be expressed as the weighted standardized mean difference. A random-effects model will be used. Supplementary analyses, such as heterogeneity analysis, sensitivity analysis, publication bias, subgroup analysis, and meta-regression analysis will be performed. RESULTS: The meta-analysis will provide the differences of NfL concentrations in the CSF and blood between patients with PD and healthy controls and will show the magnitudes of their effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis will provide the evidence of NfL concentrations in the CSF and blood in PD and we hope that our study has an important impact on clinical practice. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202060025