title: Cholesterol and pathological processes in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Fundamental questions on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are how nontoxic, soluble amyloid beta-protein (A beta) is converted to its toxic, aggregated form and how functional tau is hyperphosphorylated to form neurofibrillary tangles. Growing evidence from recent biochemical and cell biological studies suggests that altered cholesterol metabolism in neurons may underlie such pathological processes. The possibility that cholesterol is a risk factor in the development of AD has also been supported by recent epidemiological studies. Based on this line of evidence, it is noteworthy to examine the potency of cholesterol-lowering medicine and/or diet in suppressing the development or the progression of AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dementia Research, National Institute for Longevity Sciences, Obu, Japan. katuhiko@nils.go.jp
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D016875:tau Proteins; D002784:Cholesterol