title: Isolation of two unique fractions from the cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer disease patients.
abstract: The cerebrospinal fluid from five patients with Alzheimer disease and five age-matched controls was fractionated into 7 to 9 fractions utilizing chromatographic techniques. The cerebrospinal fluid from each of the five Alzheimer disease patients contained two fractions (fractions B and C) which were lacking in the cerebrospinal fluid of the five age-matched controls. In addition, when the elution profiles of the Alzheimer disease and control cerebrospinal fluid were compared, fraction A, which was found in every cerebrospinal fluid sample studied, was eluted slightly faster in the Alzheimer disease samples than in the cerebrospinal fluid samples from the age-matched controls. Furthermore, it is believed that fraction A isolated from the control cerebrospinal fluid consists of aggregated immunoglobulin molecules and that fraction A isolated from the Alzheimer disease patients' cerebrospinal fluid might consist of immune complexes. Each of the purified cerebrospinal fluid fractions from both control and Alzheimer disease patients was studied for its ability to inhibit macrophage mediated tumor cytotoxicity as well as activate macrophages to kill tumor cells. Each activate macrophages to kill tumor cells. None of the purified cerebrospinal fluid fractions obtained from the controls could inhibit macrophage mediated tumor cytotoxicity whereas 4 of the 9 purified fractions isolated from the Alzheimer disease patients inhibited macrophage mediated cytotoxicity by more than 50%. When fractions B and C were examined for their ability to either activate macrophages or inhibit macrophage mediated cytotoxicity, it was found that fraction B inhibited macrophage mediated cytotoxicity but was not able to activate macrophages to kill tumor cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008262:Macrophage Activation; D008970:Molecular Weight