Levation of serum macrophage colony stimulating factor level in patients with Alzheimer's disease

There was impairment of immune function in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the perturbation of immune system was involved in the pathogenesis of AD. To investigate the mechanism of the impairment of immune function in AD patients, we analyzed the levels of serum IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and M-CSF in AD patients. The results demonstrated that levels of serum M-CSF were significantly increased in AD patients compared with healthy controls (P<0.01), and they were significantly correlated with the degree of dementia (CDR and MMSE) in AD patients. Our findings indicated that M-CSF might play an important role in the development of neuropathology of patients with AD, and it might serve as an indicator for monitoring the perturbation of immune function in patients with AD.