Lymphocyte subset patterns and cytokine production in Alzheimer's disease patients

Speciale, Livianna; Calabrese, Elena; Saresella, Marina; Tinelli, Carmine; Mariani, Claudio; Sanvito, Lara; Longhi, Renato; Ferrante, Pasquale

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2006.05.020

« Previous Next »Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 28, Issue 8 , Pages 1163-1169, August 2007

Lymphocyte subset patterns and cytokine production in Alzheimer's disease patients

Livianna Speciale
- Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnologies, Don Gnocchi Foundation, ONLUS, IRCCS, Via Capecelatro 66, I-20148 Milan, Italy
Elena Calabrese
- Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, Don Gnocchi Foundation, ONLUS, IRCCS, Milan, Italy
Marina Saresella
- Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnologies, Don Gnocchi Foundation, ONLUS, IRCCS, Via Capecelatro 66, I-20148 Milan, Italy
Carmine Tinelli
- Biometric Unit, IRCCS, S. Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Italy
Claudio Mariani
- Chair of Neurology, L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Lara Sanvito
- Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, Don Gnocchi Foundation, ONLUS, IRCCS, Milan, Italy
Renato Longhi
- National Research Council Institute of Chemistry of Molecular Recognition, Milan, Italy
Pasquale Ferrante
- Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnologies, Don Gnocchi Foundation, ONLUS, IRCCS, Via Capecelatro 66, I-20148 Milan, Italy
- Chair of Virology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Technology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Corresponding author . Tel.: +39 02 40308426; fax: +39 02 40308539.

Received 26 January 2006; received in revised form 17 May 2006; accepted 18 May 2006. published online 29 June 2006.

Abstract

To investigate the signs of inflammatory processes in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we examined peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 51 AD patients (29 with mild and 22 with moderately severe dementia) and 51 age-matched healthy controls (HC), using flow cytometry to analyse the absolute number and the percentage of T, B and NK cells. We also studied the surface expression of CD25, CD28, CD57, CD71, CD45RA and CD45RO markers on cells CD4+ and CD8+. In 30 AD patients and 20 HC the production of IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-10 and TNF-α by PBMC after stimulation with [25–35], [1–40] and [1–16] beta-amyloid (βA) fragments was also evaluated.

A significant decrease in circulating B and CD8+CD28− cells, as well as an increase in CD8+ cells expressing CD71+ and CD28+, was observed in AD patients. A significant decrease in IL-10 production was also found after stimulation of PMBC with βA [1–40]. The decreased IL-10 production was not related to disease severity.

The observed imbalance of immune peripheral cell subpopulations and decreased IL-10 production point to a reduction of suppressor cell function in AD patients.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, B cells, CD8+CD28+, CD8+CD28−, CD8+CD71+, IL-10, Beta-amyloid fragments