TNF-alpha and antibodies to periodontal bacteria discriminate between Alzheimer's disease patients and normal subjects.

Publication Type	Academic Article
Authors	Kamer A, Craig R, Pirraglia E, Dasanayake A, Norman R, Boylan R, Nehorayoff A, Glodzik L, Brys M, de Leon M
Journal	J Neuroimmunol
Volume	216
Issue	1-2
Pagination	92-7
Date Published	09/19/2009
ISSN	1872-8421
Keywords	Alzheimer Disease, Antibodies, Periodontitis, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
Abstract	The associations of inflammation/immune responses with clinical presentations of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain unclear. We hypothesized that TNF-alpha and elevated antibodies to periodontal bacteria would be greater in AD compared to normal controls (NL) and their combination would aid clinical diagnosis of AD. Plasma TNF-alpha and antibodies against periodontal bacteria were elevated in AD patients compared with NL and independently associated with AD. The number of positive IgG to periodontal bacteria incremented the TNF-alpha classification of clinical AD and NL. This study shows that TNF-alpha and elevated numbers of antibodies against periodontal bacteria associate with AD and contribute to the AD diagnosis.
DOI	10.1016/j.jneuroim.2009.08.013
PubMed ID	19767111
PubMed Central ID	PMC2783848