Increased midkine levels in sera from patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Midkine (MK) is a heparin binding growth factor and promotes growth, survival and migration of various cells including neurons. It is also known to accumulate in senile plaques of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). To investigate the involvement of serum MK in the pathophysiology of AD, serum MK levels were determined in patients with AD (n=36) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n=32), using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The serum MK values of the patients with AD (median 560 and interquartile range (500-755) pg/ml) were significantly (U=278.5, P=0.0003, Mann-Whitney U-test) higher than those of the controls (median 500 and interquartile range (385-520) pg/ml). Moreover, 17 patients (47.2%) had abnormally high values of more than 600 pg/ml, but no controls (0%) did. There was no correlation between serum MK level and the mini mental state examination (MMSE) score in the patients. The demonstration of elevated MK levels in sera of patients with AD may contribute toward an understanding the pathophysiology of this disease, and provide a novel potential therapeutic strategy for decreasing neuronal damages in patients with AD. We found that serum MK levels in patients with AD were increased in comparison with those of normal controls.
Salama
Ragaa H M
RH
Department of Biochemistry and Division of Disease Models, Center for Neural Disease and Cancer, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan.
Muramatsu
Hisako
H
Shimizu
Eiji
E
Hashimoto
Kenji
K
Ohgake
Shintaro
S
Watanabe
Hiroyuki
H
Komatsu
Naoya
N
Okamura
Naoe
N
Koike
Kaori
K
Shinoda
Naoyuki
N
Okada
Shin-ichi
S
Iyo
Masaomi
M
Muramatsu
Takashi
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000078792:Midkine; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000097:blood*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D000078792:Midkine