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Immunological Associations in Familial and Non-Familial Alzheimer Patients and Their Families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

M.F. Frecker*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's
W.E.M. Pryse-Philli
Affiliation:
Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's
H.R. Strong
Affiliation:
Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's
*
Department of Community Medicine (Genetics), Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada A1B 3V6
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Abstract:

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A number of autoimmune diseases and immune-related conditions were investigated in a series of 100 Alzheimer patients and their families. The group was divided into those who had familial dementia of the Alzheimer type and non-familial dementia of the Alzheimer type. HLA DR3 was associated with the familial dementia of the Alzheimer type patients. Adult exposure to tuberculosis appeared to be a risk factor for familial dementia of the Alzheimer type patients. Autoimmune diseases clustered among the non-familial dementia of the Alzheimer type patients, and also among their relatives. Asthma and infertility were also significantly increased among non-familial dementia of the Alzheimer type relatives. The analysis showed that (1) autoimmunity may be important in the sporadic form of Alzheimer disease; (2) it may be possible to confer a decreased risk for Alzheimer disease among relatives when many autoimmune diseases occur in the family; (3) it may be important to assess environmental risk factors for Alzheimer disease separately in patients with familial and sporadic disease; and (4) the efficacy of drug therapies may be dependent on whether the patients have a familial or sporadic form of Alzheimer disease.

Résumé:

RÉSUMÉ:

Nous avons étudié certaines maladies auto-immunes et certains troubles immunitaires chez une série de 100 patients atteints de la maladie d'Alzheimer et chez leurs familles. Le groupe était divisé en démence familiale de type Alzheimer (DFTA) et démence non familiale de type Alzheimer (DNFTA). Le HLA DR3 était associé à la DFTA. Une exposition à la tuberculose à l'âge adulte semblait être un facteur de risque pour les patients avec DFTA. 11 y avait aggrégation de maladies autoimmunes chez les patients avec DNFTA ainsi que dans leurs familles. La fréquence de l'asthme et de l'infertilité étaient également augmentées significativement dans les familles DNFTA. L'analyse a montré que 1) l'auto-immunité est peut-être un facteur important dans les formes sporadiques de la maladie d'Alzheimer; 2) il peut être possible de déterminer qui a un risque plus faible d'être atteint de la maladie d'Alzheimer dans les familles des patients quand plusieurs maladies auto-immunes sont présentes dans la famille; 3) il peut être important d'évaluer séparément les facteurs de risque environnementaux pour la maladie d'Alzheimer chez les patients qui ont une maladie familiale et chez ceux dont la maladie est spo-radique; 4) l'efficacité de la thérapie médicamenteuse peut dépendre du fait que les patients ont la forme familiale ou la forme sporadique de la maladie d'Alzheimer.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1994

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