Effects of Intravenous Immunoglobulin Treatment on the Alzheimer's CSF Proteome

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy has shown promise in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, serial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from a group of subjects with AD undergoing IVIg immunotherapy are analyzed to identify IVIg-related changes. CSF samples from eight subjects were collected before therapy, after treatment, and after a drug washout period. Samples were analyzed by 2-DE and using two different statistical approaches. The first analysis identified nearly seventy proteins that showed a considerable and consistent change during IVIg treatment. The second analysis identified more than two dozen proteins that changed significantly after six months of treatment, and then the change was either sustained or reversed during the washout period. These results describe an interesting group of CSF proteins that may be associated with the treatment of AD, as well as the potential use of IVIg as an AD immunotherapy.