Alzheimer's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alzheimer's Disease, including details on diagnosis, memory loss, heredity, treatment, medication.

Cerebrospinal fluid antimicroglial antibodies in Alzheimer disease: a putative marker of an ongoing inflammatory process.

McRae A, Martins RN, Fonte J, Kraftsik R, Hirt L, Miklossy J

University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Preclinical Sciences, Uriah Butler Highway, Champs Fleurs Trinidad and Tobago, WI, USA. mcrae@carib-link.net

Immunocompetent microglia play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Antimicroglial antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in clinically diagnosed AD patients have been previously recorded. Here, we report the results of the analysis of the CSF from 38 autopsy cases: 7 with definite AD; 14 with mild and 10 with moderate Alzheimer's type pathology; and 7 controls. Antimicroglial antibodies were identified in 70% of patients with definite AD, in 80% of patients with moderate and in 28% of patients with mild Alzheimer's type pathology. CSF antimicroglial antibodies were not observed in any of the control cases. The results show that CSF antimicroglial antibodies are present in the majority of patients with definite AD and also in cases with moderate Alzheimer's type changes. They may also indicate dysregulation of microglial function. Together with previous observations, these findings indicate that compromised immune defense mechanisms play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD.

Published 12 March 2007 in Exp Gerontol, 42(4): 355-63.
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