Alterations in the Peripheral Immune System in Dementia

Abstract

Alterations in the immune response that result in inflammation might play a role in the pathology of dementias. In order to analyze changes of the peripheral immune system associated with different types of dementias, we determined several innate and adaptive cell populations in whole blood using flow cytometry. We included patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 60), vascular dementia (VaD; n = 20), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD; n = 12) at the time point of diagnosis and 24 age-matched neuropsychiatric healthy persons. Monocytes and NK cells were diminished in VaD, but not in AD and FTD. B cell and T cell numbers were decreased in all investigated forms of dementia. Changes in the contribution of naïve/memory T cells were only present in AD. Correlation and regression analyses revealed associations between altered immune cell populations and Q Albumin as marker for the integrity of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid-barrier, Mini-Mental State Examination values, and age. The peripheral immune system is altered in AD, VaD, and FTD. However, each disorder presents unique changes in the investigated cell types indicating different mechanisms underlying the pathology.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; B cells; NK cells; T cells; frontotemporal dementia; monocytes; vascular dementia.