Peripheral cytokine release in Alzheimer patients: correlation with disease severity

Neurobiol Aging. 2003 Nov;24(7):909-14. doi: 10.1016/s0197-4580(03)00010-1.

Abstract

Various studies suggested that inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated cytokine release from LPS-stimulated blood cells of 32 AD patients, with different disease severity, compared to 16 age-related controls. A significant decrease of IL-1beta and IL-6 secretion was observed in severely demented patients; TNF-alpha release was also decreased, but not significantly. By contrast, mild and moderate patients showed a cytokine release similar to controls. IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha secretion was negatively correlated with the severity of dementia, quantified by the MMSE. Our data suggest that alterations of the immune profile are associated with AD progression.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Controlled Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / blood
  • Aging / immunology
  • Alzheimer Disease / blood
  • Alzheimer Disease / classification
  • Alzheimer Disease / immunology*
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Cortisone / blood
  • Female
  • Humans
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Interleukin-1 / blood
  • Interleukin-1 / metabolism*
  • Interleukin-6 / blood
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism*
  • Lymphocyte Activation / physiology
  • Lymphocytes / immunology
  • Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Matched-Pair Analysis
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Interleukin-1
  • Interleukin-6
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Cortisone