Serum cytokine levels in patients with Alzheimer's disease

• Published in: Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology Vol. 1; no. 4; pp. 433 - 436
• Main Authors: Chao, C C, Ala, T A, Hu, S, Crossley, K B, Sherman, R E, Peterson, P K, Frey, 2nd, W H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-07-1994
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Female; Humans; Interleukin-6 - blood; Male; Middle Aged; Sex Factors; Transforming Growth Factor alpha - blood; Transforming Growth Factor beta - blood
• ISSN: 1071-412X; 1098-6588
• DOI: 10.1128/cdli.1.4.433-436.1994

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.