title: Increased midkine levels in sera from patients with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Ragaa H M
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Salama
authors.forename: Hisako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohgake
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.forename: Naoe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shinoda
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Masaomi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iyo
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D000078792:Midkine