BASAL AND ACTIVATED INTRACELLULAR CALCIUM-ION CONCENTRATIONS IN MONONUCLEAR-CELLS OF ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND UNIPOLAR DEPRESSION

We present the results of a case control study on the concentration of intracellular calcium [Ca+2]i in peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( PBMC) of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), major affective disor der unipolar type (DEP), and elderly controls. We used the fluorescent dye Quin-2 to measure intracellular calcium concentration in PBMC bot h in their basal resting state [Ca+2]b and after activation [Ca+2]a wi th phytohemagglutinin (PHA). The [Ca+2]b and [Ca+2]a values in PBMC of AD patients were significantly higher than those of the elderly contr ols and of the DEP patients. In the DEP patients the [Ca+2]a values in PBMC were significantly higher than those of the elderly controls, bu t the [Ca+2]b values were not. [Ca+2]i levels did not correlate with a ge, gender, or duration and severity of the diseases investigated. The se findings indicate that higher values of[Ca+2]b and [Ca+2]a may diff erentiate most AD patients from elderly controls or DEP patients.