CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA (IL-1-BETA) IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

Recent studies indicate that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit an immune dysfunction at the central and peripheral levels. We have studied the concentration of IL-1-beta in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with AD, multi-infarct dementia (MID), normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), and multiple sclerosis (MS). CSF IL-1-beta levels were significantly higher in AD (131 +/- 17.33 pg/ml) than in MID (79.71 +/- 24.37 pg/ml, p < 0.01), NPH (84.75 +/- 23.17 pg/ml, p < 0.01), and MS (79.4 +/- 10.23 pg/ml, p < 0.01). In patients with neurological disorders CSF IL-1-beta levels showed a progressive increase with age (r = +0.49, p < 0.015). The concentration of IL-1-beta in CSF of demented patients correlated with mental deterioration (r = -0.476). According to these results we postulate that high levels of central IL-1-beta in AD might reflect a reactive neuroimmune response to: (a) abnormal epitopes exposed by lesioned neurons, (b) reactive microglia by exogenous and/or endogenous factors and (c) endogenous neurotrophic activation.