Genes Regulating Interleukin-6 Implicated in Alzheimer's Disease

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Title: Genes Regulating Interleukin-6 Implicated in Alzheimer's Disease

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American Journal of Medical Genetics, volume 114, issue 4, 436-439.

04/29/2002 09:59:27 AM

By Mark Moran

A genetic polymorphism influencing plasma Interleukin-6 concentrations may

be associated with sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in a Japanese

population.

Researchers at Juntendo Koshigaya Hospital, Japan, studied the frequency of

two IL-6 polymorphisms in 128 Japanese AD cases and 83 control cases using a

PCR-RFLP method.

They found that plasma IL-6 concentration in AD patients was significantly

higher than in healthy controls. Frequency of the Interleukin-6 (IL-6)prom G

allele--known to influence the regulation of plasma 6 concentration--was

also found to be significantly increased in patients with AD.

Moreover, the IL-6prom G allele-positive patients showed a tendency to have

higher IL-6 concentration than patients who were not positive for the

allele. And, in the same analysis, frequency of another polymorphism--known

as the IL-6 variable number of tandem repeat (IL-6vntr) polymorphism--was

not found to be increased.

These results confirm the hypothesis that IL-6, an inflammatory cytokine, is

involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's, and that the IL-6prom G

allele in involved in IL-6 plasma concentrations. They also support previous

reports that the IL-6vntr may be protective against the disease.

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