J Korean Geriatr Soc.
2004 Jun;8(2):96-103.
Changes of Cytokines in CSF of Patients with Alzheime r's Disease and Vascular Dementia
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neurology, Kos in University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea. ybgne@ns.kosinmed.or.kr
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease(AD) and vascular dementia(VaD) are common types of dementia. Despite the heterogeneous nature of both AD and VaD, inflammation may also play an important role in the pathogenesis of these diseases. However, to our knowledge, there is little evidence reported on differences of cytokines. The aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of CSF
cytokine release in patients with AD and VaD, to reveal the difference of inflammation processes between AD and VaD, and to relate the levels of these cytokines to the severity of the dementias.
METHODS
We selected two groups of elderly with neurocognitive and functional impairment described as ADand VaD, and measured CSF levels of cytokines. Obtained data were analysed with respect to neuropsychological tests(Korean version of Mini-mental State Examination: K-MMSE, Clinical Dementia Rating: CDR, Global Deterioration Scale: GDS) and clinical parameters. We measured the CSF levels of IL-1 , TNF- and TGF- in 25 patients with AD, 22 patients with VaDand 9 normal controls. Cytokines were measured by sandwich ELISA(enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) method.
RESULTS
Compared with controls, patients with AD and VaD showed higher CSF levels of TNF- (p=0.046, p=0.060) and TGF- (p=0.038, p=0.040), but not in IL-1 . VaD patients showed more impairment in CDR and GDS than patients with AD. The levels of IL-1 , TNF- and TGF- in CSF did not differ significantly between patients with AD and VaD. Neuropsychological tests and clinical parameters were not correlated with IL-1 , TGF- and TNF- levels in CSF.
CONCLUSION
These findings show that cytokines in CSF are elevated in patients with AD and VaD. These results suggest that these cytokines might not only play a role in the pathogenesis of AD but also in the pathogenesis of VaD. Although the initial event triggering the neurodegenerative process in ADversus VaDmay be different, it may reveal a similar cascade of cytokine in response to neuronal injury.
