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. 2015 Oct 5;7(1):63.
doi: 10.1186/s13195-015-0145-y.

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of IL-6 are decreased and correlate with cognitive status in DLB patients

Malin Wennström  1 , Sara Hall  2 , Katarina Nägga  3 , Elisabet Londos  4 , Lennart Minthon  5 , Oskar Hansson  6
Affiliations

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of IL-6 are decreased and correlate with cognitive status in DLB patients

Malin Wennström et al. Alzheimers Res Ther. .

Abstract

Introduction: Inflammatory processes have previously been shown to influence cognition and progression of dementia. An involvement of interleukin (IL)-6 has in particular been suggested as altered levels of IL-6 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been found in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Also, an association between cognitive decline and levels of IL-6 in CSF have been reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether patients clinically diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) display altered CSF IL-6 levels in comparison with patients with AD and control subjects without dementia and whether the IL-6 levels are correlated with cognitive status and biomarkers for AD and synucleinopathy.

Methods: To analyse CSF of patients with AD (n = 45), patients with DLB (n = 29) and control subjects without dementia (n = 36), we used immunoassays to measure levels of IL-6 (multiplex electrochemiluminescence); AD markers phosphorylated tau, total tau and amyloid-β1-42 (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]); and α-synuclein (ELISA). Cognitive status was evaluated using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Results: Our analysis showed significantly lower levels of IL-6 in CSF from patients with DLB than in CSF from patients with AD and control subjects without dementia. The IL-6 levels were also negatively correlated with MMSE and positively correlated with α-synuclein CSF levels.

Conclusions: Our findings support previous studies by demonstrating a link between inflammatory processes and dementia progression and further strengthen the hypothesis that IL-6 is involved in dementia pathology and cognitive decline.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Log-transformed interleukin-6 (logIL-6) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of control subjects without dementia (Ctrl), patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). a Box plot represents the mean ± standard deviation of logIL-6 levels in Ctrl, AD and DLB. b Plot shows correlations between CSF levels of α-synuclein and logIL-6 in patients with DLB (p < 0.01). c Plot demonstrates the negative correlation between Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and logIL-6 in patients with DLB. *Significant difference at p < 0.05 level; **significant difference at p < 0.01 level; ***significant difference at p < 0.001 level
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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