Comprehensive Review on Alzheimer’s Disease: Causes and Treatment
Date
2020-12-08
Authors
Breijyeh, Zeinab
Karaman, Rafik
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a disorder that causes degeneration of the cells in the brain
and it is the main cause of dementia, which is characterized by a decline in thinking and
independence in personal daily activities. AD is considered a multifactorial disease: two main
hypotheses were proposed as a cause for AD, cholinergic and amyloid hypotheses. Additionally,
several risk factors such as increasing age, genetic factors, head injuries, vascular diseases,
infections, and environmental factors play a role in the disease. Currently, there are only two classes
of approved drugs to treat AD, including inhibitors to cholinesterase enzyme and antagonists to Nmethyl
D-aspartate (NMDA), which are effective only in treating the symptoms of AD, but do not
cure or prevent the disease. Nowadays, the research is focusing on understanding AD pathology by
targeting several mechanisms, such as abnormal tau protein metabolism, β-amyloid, inflammatory
response, and cholinergic and free radical damage, aiming to develop successful treatments that are
capable of stopping or modifying the course of AD. This review discusses currently available drugs
and future theories for the development of new therapies for AD, such as disease-modifying
therapeutics (DMT), chaperones, and natural compounds.
Description
Keywords
Alzheimer’s disease , neurodegeneration , β-amyloid peptide , tau protein , risk factors , disease-modifying therapy , chaperons , heat shock proteins