Intrathecal synthesis of immunoglobulin G in vascular dementia

Serum and CSF from 53 vascular dementia (VD) patients and 50 controls were analysed to investigate the possibility of an intrathecal synthesis of IgG, defined as an elevated IgG index (greater than or equal to 7) and/or presence of oligoclonal IgG in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but not in serum. Five (9%) patients and no controls exhibited an intrathecal synthesis of IgG. The IgG index increased with the degree of dementia (p less than 0.05). It was positively related to presence/absence of hypertension (p less than 0.05) and correlated positively with diastolic blood pressure (p less than 0.05). The findings suggest that immunological factors might be involved in the pathogenesis of VD.