Cytokines In Cerebrospinal Fluid Of Patients Research Articles

Proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the CSF of patients with Alzheimer's disease and their correlation with cognitive decline

Cumulative data suggest that neuroinflammation plays a prominent role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. The purpose of this work was to assess if patients with AD present a specific cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytokine profile and if it correlates to disease progression. We determined the levels of 27 cytokines in CSF of patients with AD and compared them with patients with frontotemporal dementia and nondemented controls. In addition, we correlated the cytokine levels with cognitive status and disease progression after 12 months. Patients with AD had higher levels of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines (eotaxin, interleukin [IL]-1ra, IL-4, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-15, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, platelet-derived growth factor, tumor necrosis factor alfa) compared to nondemented controls. There was a negative correlation between the disease progression and the levels of several cytokines (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-9, IL-17A, basic fibroblast growth factor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interferon gamma, macrophage inflammatory proteins-1β). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting a “protective” role of the upregulation of specific intrathecal cytokine levels in AD. This finding supports that a fine “rebalancing” of the immune system represents a new target in AD therapeutic approach.

Different Inflammatory Biomarker Patterns in the Cerebro-Spinal Fluid Following Heart Surgery and Major Non-Cardiac Operations

Cognitive decline occurs frequently after cardiac surgery and it may lead to patient morbidity. The purpose of this study is to focus on the static incidence of neuro-psychiatric impairment associated with altered inflammatory biomarkers in the cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) that may provide an insight into the mechanisms of acute peri-operative cognitive disturbances related to heart surgery. Immuno-assays were used to evaluate concentrations of several cytokines in CSF of patients undergoing either off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OP-CABG) or major non-cardiac surgeries. Inter-group analysis showed no differences in baseline cytokine abundance. Levels of IL-8 have markedly increased both after OP-CABG and major non-cardiac surgeries (34.59+/-7.15 vs. 99.45+/-6.35, and 27.44+/-7.17 vs. 66.63+/-15.18). Rantes showed significantly greater quantity in CSF of the non-cardiac group after surgery (8.71+/-3.37 vs. 114.56+/-65.42), whereas it became somewhat less abundant in the post-operative period but statistically unchanged in the OP-CABG cohort (19.87+/-15.71 vs. 9.37+/-3.65). IP-10 and MCP-1 did not show significant changes in their concentrations in either patient population (OP-CABG: 254.41+/-160.01 vs. 224.55+/-214.39, and 140.37+/-40.98 vs. 147.16+/-37.98; non-cardiac: 274.99+/-219.44 vs. 395.09+/-468.30, and 126.56+/-31.24 vs. 124.41+/-49.89, respectively). These findings suggest that cardiac surgery provokes alterations in the levels of various cytokines in the CSF, and the OP-CABG induced changes in biomarker profile differs from that seen after major non-cardiac surgeries. This, along with other biomarkers, may offer an explanation for relationships between the pronounced incidence of cognitive impairment after heart operations.