Examination of IL-1β level as an inflammasome marker in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Objective: Interleukin (IL)-1β is believed to be responsible for the neurotoxicity of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the present study, serum levels of IL-1β, and correlations with clinical features and neuropsychiatric test results were examined.Methods: Thirty-eight patients with AD and 38 healthy control patients were included in the study. Serum IL-1β levels in pa-tients with AD and control were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The Mini-Mental Test Score (MMSE) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered to both the patient and control groups. Furthermore, the clin-ical dementia rating, detailed neuropsychological test battery, and neuropsychiatric inventory were administered to the AD group. It was determined that the serum IL-1β measurements of the patient and control groups were not statistically different, and IL-1β measurements in the patient group were not correlated with the MMSE and GDS.Results: The relationship of IL-1β measurements in the patient group with other clinical data was not significant. Among the patients' neuropsychological tests, a moderately, significant negative correlation was found only between the clock drawing test and visual learning score and serum IL-1β levels.Conclusion: Our study is in agreement with other studies in which no significant difference was found between patients with AD and healthy controls in terms of serum IL-1β levels, but the moderately negative correlation obtained with the clock drawing test and visual learning score indicates a weak relation. This result may indicate that stronger relations will be determined in large-scale studies involving larger numbers of patients.