ANTI-NGF AUTOANTIBODIES AND NGF IN SERA OF ALZHEIMER PATIENTS AND IN NORMAL SUBJECTS IN RELATION TO AGE

It has been suggested that inflammation may be a possible cause of Alz heimer's disease (AD). Increased anti-NGF autoantibody levels and incr eased NGF frequency in serum have previously been associated with infl ammatory responses. In this study no changes in anti-NGF autoantibody titers or in NGF frequency were detected in sera of AD patients, sugge sting that they are not involved in the neuroimmunological mechanisms underlying AD. There were neither age-associated changes in NGF freque ncy in sera of four groups of normal subjects between 18-91 years of a ge. In contrast, anti-NGF autoantibodies were significantly increased in sera of the 31-45 yr age group.