Longitudinal analysis of novel Alzheimer's disease proteomic cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers during intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy has shown promising results in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, a Random Forest (RF) classification model was used to identify possible effects of IVIg on a group of eight subjects who underwent immunotherapy. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from eight AD subjects who underwent IVIg therapy were collected before therapy, after 6 months of therapy, and after a 3-month drug washout period. Samples were analyzed using 2DE and further studied using a RF classification model to identify effects of IVIg on a panel of 23 putative diagnostic AD biomarkers previously identified. Six of the eight subjects showed improvements with respect to the 23 AD diagnostic biomarkers after 6 months of therapy compared to the samples taken at the outset of the trial. All subjects reverted back to baseline during drug washout. These results are also consistent with clinical observations. The observed improvements in subjects during 6 months of IVIg therapy and the reversion back to baseline during drug washout provides preliminary evidence regarding the potential use of IVIg as an AD immunotherapy.