Serum cytokine levels in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been proposed to be an inflammatory disorder. In a recent study, markedly elevated levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with advanced AD suggested a potential predictive value of this cytokine in patients with AD. In the present prospective study, we tested the hypothesis that the levels of TGF-beta in serum would be increased in patients with AD and could thereby serve as a diagnostic marker. We found that serum TGF-beta levels but not proinflammatory cytokine levels were significantly (P < 0.05) elevated in patients with AD (n = 22) in comparison with the levels in their healthy spousal controls. Also, serum TGF-beta levels were positively correlated (r = 0.45; P < 0.05) with disease severity. Nevertheless, the elevation in serum TGF-beta levels in patients with Ad was modest, and considerable overlap with the control values suggests that the diagnostic usefulness of this cytokine for AD is limited.
Chao
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Neuroimmunobiology and Host Defense Laboratory, Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation, MN 55404, USA.
Ala
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Hu
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Crossley
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Sherman
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Peterson
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Frey
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha / Q000097:blood*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood*
D015850:Interleukin-6; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta