title: Functional study of T lymphocyte responsiveness in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type.
abstract: The autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction (AMLR) was used to study T lymphocytes in a group of patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) in order to confirm the observation that their T cell proliferation in AMLR was greater than in age-matched controls, and to investigate other pathways of T cell activation, searching for correlations between immunologic and clinical findings in DAT. The mean proliferative response in AMLR was increased in patients with DAT. No differences between patients and age-matched controls were detected when other pathways of T cell activation were investigated. The degree of response in the AMLR varied among patients with DAT. This fits with the suggestion that the disorder may be a heterogeneous syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Neurologica, Università di Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arata
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caria
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farinelli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parodi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scudeletti
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Canonica
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*