The importance of inflammatory mechanisms for the development of Alzheimer's disease

A variety of inflammatory proteins has been identified in brains. of patien ts with Alzheimer's disease, The current data suggest that the inflammatory processes are intimately involved in several crucial events in the patholo gical cascade, Immunohistochemical studies reveal that those parts of the b rain wherein the amyloid-beta deposits are closely associated with a chroni c inflammatory response are strongly related to the characteristic symptoms , An inflammation-based approach could also provide a valuable theoretical framework to study the influence of extracerebral factors (such as acute ph ase reactants) on the clinical course of Alzheimer's disease, (C) 1999 Else vier Science Inc. All rights reserved.