Drug candidates in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major form of senile dementia, characterized by progressive memory and neuronal loss combined with cognitive impairment. AD is the most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, affecting one-fifth of those aged over 85 years. Recent therapeutic approaches have been strongly influenced by five neuropathological hallmarks of AD: acetylcholine deficiency, glutamate excitotoxicity, extracellular deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ plague), formation of intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NTFs), and neuroinflammation. The lowered concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh) in AD result in a progressive and significant loss of cognitive and behavioral function. Current AD medications, memantine and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) alleviate some of these symptoms by

SUBMITTER: Hung SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5516350 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature