Journal Article

Cytokine expression profile in the human brain of older adults

Schneider, Julie A., Tasaki, Shinya, de Paiva Lopes, Katia, Wang, Yanling, Bennett, David A., Guizelini, Dieval, Vialle, Ricardo A., dos Santos, Loren, Godoy, Juliana Beker, Menon, Vilas, Raittz, Roberto T., De Jager, Philip L.

2025

Overview

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative condition linked to chronic neuroinflammation. This study investigates the cytokine gene expression profile in cortical tissue samples from elderly individuals with and without AD to identify potential biomarkers and enhance our understanding of disease pathogenesis. Utilizing high-depth RNA sequencing data, we identified a set of cytokines whose expression significantly associated with different aspects of the AD phenotype, including measures of neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid-β deposition, and a person-specific rate of cognitive decline. Single-nucleus transcriptomics data facilitated the identification of specific cell types, such as microglia and astrocytes, that significantly contribute to the inflammatory response in AD. Additionally, we observed a correlation between the expression of certain cytokines and genetic risk for the disease. Our findings indicate that cytokine-mediated neuroinflammation may play an important role in neurodegeneration and that modulating the immune response may offer a promising strategy for developing new therapies.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Aging / Alzheimer Disease - genetics / Alzheimer Disease - metabolism / Alzheimer Disease - pathology / Alzheimer's disease / Astrocytes / Biomarkers / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Blood & organ donations / Brain / Brain - metabolism / Brain - pathology / Brain cells / Clinical outcomes / Cognitive ability / Communication / Complications and side effects / Cytokines / Cytokines - biosynthesis / Cytokines - genetics / Cytokines - metabolism / Datasets / Dementia / Development and progression / Female / Gene expression / Gene Expression Profiling / Genetic aspects / Health aspects / Health risk assessment / Humans / Immune response / Immune system / Immunology / Inflammation / Male / Measurement / Memory / Microglia / Neurobiology / Neurodegenerative diseases / Neurofibrillary tangles / Neuroinflammation / Neurological research / Neurology / Neurosciences / Older people / Pathology / Phenotypes / Regression analysis / Religious orders / Single-nuclei RNA-Seq / Transcriptome / Transcriptomics / β-Amyloid