生物谷报道：美国研究人员进行的一项长期跟踪调查发现，血液有炎症迹象的人，晚年罹患阿尔茨海默氏症（早老性痴呆症）的危险性将大大增加。
这一研究成果将刊登在新一期美国《神经病学》杂志上。研究人员共选取了６９１名平均年龄为７９岁的健康人，通过血液检测确定其血液是否有炎症迹象。随后，研究人员对他们进行了历时７年的跟踪观察。这期间，共有４４人患上阿尔茨海默氏症。
研究人员说，他们检测了被调查者血液中的细胞因子水平，细胞因子是一类可诱发炎症的小分子多肽。结果发现，血液中细胞因子水平最高的一组比最低一组患阿尔茨海默氏症的危险要高两倍多。在被调查者中，２８％的女性和３０％的男性属于细胞因子水平最高的一组，这些人中罹患阿尔茨海默氏症的人占发病总人数的４２％。
参与研究的哈佛医学院扎尔蒂·坦说，上述研究进一步证明，炎症在阿尔茨海默氏症的发病过程中扮演了某种角色，那些可导致炎症的细胞因子的生成很可能就是阿尔茨海默氏症患病风险的一个生物标记。
原始出处:
NEUROLOGY 2007;68:1902-1908
Inflammatory markers and the risk of Alzheimer disease
The Framingham Study
Z. S. Tan, MD, MPH, A. S. Beiser, PhD, R. S. Vasan, MD, R. Roubenoff, MD, MHS, C. A. Dinarello, MD, T. B. Harris, MD, MS, E. J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, R. Au, PhD, D. P. Kiel, MD, MPH, P. A. Wolf, MD and S. Seshadri, MD
From the Department of Medicine, Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew Senior Life, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School (Z.S.T., D.P.K.), Department of Neurology (S.S., P.A.W., R.A.) and Department of Medicine (R.S.V., E.J.B.), Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health (A.B.); Tufts University School of Medicine (R.R.), Boston, MA; National Institute of Aging (T.B.H.), Bethesda, MD; and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (C.A.D.), Denver, CO.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Zaldy S. Tan, Hebrew Senior Life Department of Medicine, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131 ztan@hms.harvard.edu
Objective: To examine whether serum cytokines and spontaneous production of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cytokines are associated with the risk of incident Alzheimer disease (AD).
Methods: We followed 691 cognitively intact community-dwelling participants (mean age 79 years, 62% women) and related PBMC cytokine production (tertiles of spontaneous production of interleukin 1 [IL-1], IL-1 receptor antagonist, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF-]) and serum C-reactive protein and interleukin 6 (IL-6) to the risk of incident AD.
Results: Adjusting for clinical covariates, individuals in the top two tertiles (T2 and T3) of PBMC production of IL-1 or the top tertile (T3) of PBMC production of TNF- were at increased risk of developing AD (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio [HR] for IL-1 T2 = 2.84, 95% CI 1.09 to 7.43; p = 0.03 and T3 = 2.61, 95% CI 0.96 to 7.07; p = 0.06; for TNF-, adjusted HR for T2 = 1.30, 95% CI 0.53 to 3.17; p = 0.57 and T3 = 2.59, 95% CI 1.09 to 6.12; p = 0.031]) compared with those in the lowest tertile (T1).
Interpretation: Higher spontaneous production of interleukin 1 or tumor necrosis factor by peripheral blood mononuclear cells may be a marker of future risk of Alzheimer disease (AD) in older individuals. These data strengthen the evidence for a pathophysiologic role of inflammation in the development of clinical AD.
