Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which begins with insidious deterioration of higher cognition and progresses to severe dementia. Clinical symptoms typically involve impairment of memory and at least one other cognitive domain. Owing to the exponential increase in the incidence of AD with age, the aging population across the world has seen a congruous increase in AD, emphasizing the importance of disease-altering therapy. Current therapeutics on the market, including cholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists, provide symptomatic relief but do not alter progression of the disease. Therefore, progress in the areas of prevention and disease modification may be of critical interest. In this review, we summarize novel AD therapeutics that are currently being explored, and also mechanisms of action of specific drugs within the context of current knowledge of AD pathologic pathways.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9-23 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2011 |
Funding
Mark A. Smith is, or has in the past been, a paid consultant for, owns equity or stock options in, and/or receives grant funding from Anavex, Canopus BioPharma, Medivation, Neurotez, Neuropharm, Panacea Pharmaceuticals, and Voyager Pharmaceuticals. Dr Perry is a paid consultant for Neurotez and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant number R01 AG028679 to MAS and R01 AG031852 to XWZ) and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease
- NMDA antagonists
- amyloid
- antioxidants
- cholinesterase inhibitors
- luteinizing hormone
- mitochondrial therapy
- neurodegenerative drugs
- tau
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)