Low Avidity and Level of Serum Anti-Aβ Antibodies in Patients With Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy-Related Cerebral Hemorrhage

Abstract

ABSTRACTCerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is characterized by the deposition of the beta-amyloid protein (Aβ) in small cerebral vessels, which is considered a common cause of intracerebral hemorrhage (CAAH) in elderly people. Little is known about the properties of serum naturally occurring anti-Aβ antibodies in patients with CAAH. We investigated the avidity and levels of anti-Aβ antibodies in 20 patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with thiocyanate elution. Our study revealed that both the levels and the avidity of these endogenous anti-Aβ antibodies were lower in patients with CAAH than in controls, which may be a new mechanism for the impaired clearance of cerebral Aβ and have important implications for the development of immune-based therapeutic strategies for CAA.