INTERLEUKIN-6-ASSOCIATED INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE- NEW THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS

The cytokine interleukin-6 is consistently detected in the brains of A lzheimer's disease patients but not in the brains of nondemented elder ly persons. Until recently it was unclear whether an interleukin-6-ass ociated inflammatory mechanism is an early or late event in the pathol ogical cascade of Alzheimer's disease. We investigated whether interle ukin-6 could be detected in plaques of Alzheimer's disease patients pr ior to the onset of neuritic-degeneration. We found interleukin-6 most ly in plaques where neuritic pathology has not yet developed. This ind icates that the appearance of interleukin-6 may precede neuritic chang es and is not just a consequence of neuritic degeneration. Therefore, one may hypothesize that activation of inflammatory mechanisms may cau se neuritic degeneration in plaques. A suppression of interleukin-6 sy nthesis could, therefore. be of therapeutic value. Upon screening a nu mber of substances, we found that a small number of nonsteroidal antii nflammatory drugs, including tenidap, were able to inhibit interleukin -6 synthesis in cultured human astrocytoma cells. These substances may be therapeutically useful in Alzheimer's disease and should be evalua ted in clinical studies.