Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 355, Issue 3, 30 January 2004, Pages 226-230
Neuroscience Letters

Immune response to Aβ-peptides in peripheral blood from patients with Alzheimer's disease and control subjects

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2003.10.071Get rights and content

Abstract

To investigate the immune response to amyloid β-peptide (Aβ: Aβ40 and Aβ42) in peripheral human blood, sera were obtained from 36 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 34 age-matched controls. ELISA assays were used to measure antibody concentrations to Aβ-peptides. T cell response was assessed using a lymphoproliferation assay. Both AD and control subjects had low and variable concentrations of antibodies against Aβ (predominantly IgG1). The mean antibody to Aβ concentrations did not differ between groups. No specific T cell response to Aβ-peptides was detected. Natural levels of antibodies to Aβ in peripheral blood are present in all human subjects and are unlikely to be useful in the identification of patients who would respond to potential AD immune therapy. Specific cellular immune responses to Aβ in human blood were not detected.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the volunteers of the Association Rhône-Alzheimer for their continued support. We are also indebted to Françoise Borson-Chazot, Nuclear Medicine, Hôpital Neurologique et Neurochirurgical Pierre Wertheimer at Lyon for her help in study organisation (subject blood sample collection); Claire-Anne Siegrist for providing the infant sera; the members of the Immunology and Biochemistry Platforms at Aventis Pasteur, Marcy l'Etoile, France for technical advice and to Laurent Pradier and Thierry

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    Present address: University of Texas Houston School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus, TX, USA.

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