Peripheral inflammatory response in Alzheimer's disease and multiinfarct dementia.

Whether peripheral inflammatory molecules can be considered markers of dementia is still an open issue. We have investigated the presence of circulating cytokines and the ability of blood cells to release them in response to an inflammatory stimulus in patients with different types of dementia and in age-matched controls. A significant increase in circulating interleukin-1beta in moderate Alzheimer and in multiinfarct (145 and 224 times control concentration, respectively) dementia and in circulating tumor necrosis factor-alpha concentration in multiinfarct dementia patient group (156%) were found. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 released from blood cells after exposure to lipopolysaccharide were significantly reduced in moderate Alzheimer (60%, both cytokines) and multiinfarct patients (71 and 50%, respectively), while interleukin-10 was decreased only in multiinfarct patients (61%). The results show that patients with Alzheimer disease or multiinfarct dementia have an upregulation of circulating cytokines and a downregulation of cytokines released by blood cells.