Increased cerebrospinal fluid Fas (Apo-1) levels in Alzheimer's disease -: Relationship with IL-6 concentrations

Increasing lines of evidence suggest a role of apoptosis in the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease, in which it has been implicated in increasing the expression of p53 and Fas. On the other hand, inflammatory cytokines have also been implicated as important factors in the progression of neuronal damage in this disease. In an attempt to investigate the possible in vivo relationship between programmed cell death and the inflammatory response in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), we measured the levels of soluble Fas, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and IL-6 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from ten DAT patients and ten age-matched controls. Our results show a significant increase in IL-6 and soluble Fas concentrations in the CSF of DAT patients compared with those from nondemented controls. Moreover, linear regression analysis demonstrated a significant correlation (r=0.703; P<0.05) between soluble Fas and IL-6 levels in the CSF in DAT patients. These results suggest that Fas is implicated in the inflammatory response observed in Alzheimer's brains. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.