Antibodies Recognizing Cholinergic Neurons And Thyroglobulin Are Found In The Cerebrospinal-Fluid Of A Subgroup Of Patients With Alzheimers-Disease

The presence of cholinergic neuron specific lgG in the CSF of a subgroup of patients with Alzheimerapos;s disease (AD) was demonstrated by immunocytochemistry. The lgG labeled cholinergic nerve cell bodies in the medial septum of rat brains, perfusion fixed with glutaraldehyde/allyl alcohol to fix small transmitter molecules. Many of the patient CSFs also recognized thyroglobuline in an ELISA assay. Antithyroglobuline furthermore recognized the same cholinergic neurons in the rat brain as the CSF and antiacetylcholine, as did anti-T3 and anti-T4. The results indicated that in a subgroup of AD patients autoimmune mechanisms may play a role in the pathogenesis of dementia, and that disturbances in the handling of thyroid hormone in the CNS may be involved in the disease process.