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Circulating cytokines in Alzheimer's disease
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, School of Medicine, Ann Arbor 48108, USA. singhvk@umich.edu
Journal of Psychiatric Research
|February 3, 1998
Abstract:
Immune factors may be involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disease. Since immune activation precedes immune-mediated processes, we measured plasma levels of four selective cytokines: interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-12 (IL-12), interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). The level of IL-6, but not other cytokines, was significantly elevated. The increase of circulating IL-6 indicates immune activation presumably related to pathophysiology of the disease.