Key points from article :
Functional deterioration of the nervous system contributes to late-life mortality.
Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a structural protein found in nerve cells.
NfL levels increase with age and in response to neurodegenerative diseases.
Can be detected in human bodily fluids makes it potentially useful as a biomarker for aging.
Scientists measured NfL levels in blood plasma from a cohort of people aged 21 to 107.
Found a non-linear increase and greater variability with age.
Proteins correlated with NfL are involved in apoptosis, synapse formation and plasticity.
Individuals with lower NfL levels lived longer.
NfL levels increase with age in mice and dietary restriction brings down NfL levels.
Useful biomarker in older populations, correlating with all-cause mortality and health metrics.
More work to understand how NfL differs from or correlates with other biomarkers.
Study by University of Tubingen, University of Southern Denmark, Stanford University published in Nature Aging.
