Diagnosis of alzheimer disease stage by mononuclear cell cytokine secretions

DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND ADVANTAGES According to the present invention, a method of diagnosing and determining the disease stage or severity of a degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) associated with the impairment of integrative brain function is disclosed.
The method includes the steps of: (a) measuring a cytokine production level of peripheral mononuclear cells from a peripheral blood sample and (b) determining the disease stage by comparing the level determined in step (a) with a level generated by age-matched normal controls, thereby providing a cytokine profile for each patient.
It has been determined that increases or decreases of specific cytokine production over controls reflect disease and, more particularly, the disease stage.
The present invention provides an objective diagnosis and measurement of the stages of these degenerative diseases of the CNS and can provide critical information useful for treatment of the patient.
The Alzheimer type of dementia is one degenerative disease of the CNS with which the present invention can be practiced.