The Association of Blood-Based Inflammatory Factors IL-1β, TGF-β and CRP with Cognitive Function in Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

ABSTRACT

Objective@#Many patients suffer from dementia in its most common form, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, the levels of IL-1β, TGF-β and CRP, which are involved in the inflammatory response in Alzheimer’s disease and its mild cognitive impairment (MCI), were measured and analyzed. @*Methods@#Seventy nine subjects participated in this study (mean age 75.56 years, female 54.3%, AD 26, MCI 28, normal 25). The overall cognitive function of the subjects and the severity of the disease stage were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K), the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale-Korean (GDS-K). @*Results@#It was observed that patients with AD had significantly higher levels of IL-1β and TGF-β than the patients with MCI and normal controls. In addition, the MCI group showed a statistically significantly higher TGF-β concentration than the normal group. @*Conclusion@#These results suggest that IL-1β and TGF-β may be useful biological markers for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.