CCL3 correlates with the number of mood disturbances and personality changes in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a primary degenerative disorder, a microglial-mediated inflammatory response, provoked by amyloid β (Aβ), contributes to the neurodegeneration and subsequently to the cell loss. Since such an inflammatory contribution to neurodegeneration may influence disease progression, a basic question arises concerning the mechanisms of possible clinical signs dependent on inflammatory reactions. In the present study we investigated the levels of CCL3 in the peripheral blood of AD patients and correlated findings with the results of clinical tests such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), as well as with disturbances of behaviour, mood and personality, thereby extending the spectrum of clinical symptoms to ones not assessed by the MMSE or the GDS. CCL3 levels were lower in patients with AD but correlated positively with such noncognitive symptoms as mood disturbances and personality changes. We found that CCL3 did not correlate with the severity of dementia as assessed by the MMSE or with the degree of disease deterioration as assessed by the GDS. The results from our study on CCL3 levels in AD may, in part, explain the mechanisms of some concomitant, noncognitive clinical features of the disease.