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Huntington's disease biomarkers appear 24 years before clinical symptoms

Key clinical point: Early measures of neurodegeneration appeared approximately 24 years from predicted clinical onset of Huntington’s disease.

Major finding: The CSF neurofilament light protein (NfL), was associated with predicted years to the onset of Huntington’s disease in genetic carriers; 53% of individuals with pre-Huntington’s had CSF NfL values in the normal range and 47% had elevated values compared with controls.

Study details: The data come from the Huntington’s disease Young Adult Study (HD-YAS) conducted in the United Kingdom and included 64 young adults with Huntington’s disease and 67 controls.

Disclosures: The study was supported by the Wellcome Trust, CHDI Foundation. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.

Citation:

Scahill RI et al. Lancet Neurol. 2020 June;19:502-12; Bachoud-Lévi A-C. Lancet Neurol. 2020 June;19:473-5.