Ra. Armstrong et al., ELEVATED URINARY NEOPTERIN SUGGESTS IMMUNE ACTIVATION IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND DOWNS-SYNDROME, Neuroscience research communications, 14(2), 1994, pp. 63-69
Neopterin, an unconjugated pteridine, is secreted in large quantities
by activated macrophages and can be used as a clinical marker of activ
ated cellular immunity in a patient. Hence, neopterin levels were meas
ured in urine samples taken from patients with Down's syndrome (DS), n
on-hospitalised and hospitalised Alzheimer's disease (AD) and age and
sex matched controls. All subjects and patients were free from infecti
ous and malignant disease. A significant effect of age on urinary neop
terin levels was found in control subjects, levels being greater in yo
unger and older subjects. No significant trends with age were found in
AD and DS patients. The mean level of neopterin was significantly inc
reased in DS and AD compared with age matched controls suggesting immu
ne activation in these patients. In DS, elevated neopterin levels were
present in individuals at least 17yrs old suggesting that immune acti
vation could be associated with the initial deposition of beta/A4 prot
ein in the brain.