ABSTRACT
Introduction: It is possible that immunological factors, including the heat shock protein family, are involved in the development of the different forms of dementia. We aimed to compare the levels of serum HSP27 in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with grade 2 Alzheimer’s disease, 30 patients with grade 2 vascular dementia and 30 normal subjects as a control group were recruited during November 2011 to November 2013. Diagnoses were based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. MMSE was conducted on all patients for assessing the severity of disease. Biochemical parameters, including HSP27 were measured in all subjects. Demographic characteristics were collected for all subjects. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in age, gender and the levels of HSP27 between males and females in all groups. However there was a significant association between HSP27 with the severity and duration of dementia in patients groups. HSP27 levels were lower in the vascular dementia compared to those with Alzheimer’s dementia, but were higher than for controls. Conclusion: HSP27 antibody titers were positively related to the severity and duration of both Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia and may be indicative of the role of this protein in the pathology of dementia.