title: IL-2 and IL-6 secretion in dementia: correlation with type and severity of disease.
abstract: The production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) was assessed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) who were subdivided into two groups--mild and moderately-severe--according to the severity of the disease, probable vascular dementia (VaD) patients and elderly control subjects. No differences in IL-2 secretion were found between mild AD patients and controls. However, there was a significant increase in IL-2 production both in the moderately-severe AD group and in the VaD group. IL-6 levels in AD patients of both groups were similar and significantly higher than those of VaD and controls. Our results suggest that increased levels of IL-2-production correlate with severity of the dementia, whereas increased levels of IL-6 production seem to be related to AD and thus may play a role in AD pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: C.A.I.R. Institute, Marilyn Finkler Cancer Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huberman
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sredni
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kott
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shalit
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D003704:Dementia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D015161:Dementia, Multi-Infarct / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6