Current drugs and future hopes in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
In spite of several years of experience with the use of cholinesterase inhibitors for treatment of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease their influence on disease progression remains still unclear. New cholinesterase inhibitors should provide an additional neuroprotective activity, because only substances which stop neuronal death can influence disease progression. New treatment strategies are focusing on amyloid processing, preventing the occurrence of toxic A beta(1-42) peptide. These procedures include the vaccination trials, but their clinical usefulness has to be proven. Also strategies focussing on neurofibrillary pathologies should be explored in detail. Drug development for Alzheimer's disease should include all pathological events associated with neurodegeneration, like oxidative stress, neuroinflammation or disturbances in growth factor signaling. Abnormal protein aggregation as a common feature of different neurodegenerative diseases might also be a promising drug target. Beside beta sheet breakers directed against beta-amyloid deposition the endogenous protein beta-synuclein or derivatives of it might be able to counteract aggregation of alpha-synuclein as well as of amyloid beta protein. Interaction with alpha-synuclein deserves special attention because it might be an early step of synaptic degeneration. Due to the complexity of the disease combination of different drugs might be the most promising way to go. The parallel development of early biological markers should enable intervention in pre-symptomatic disease stages.
Windisch
M
M
JSW-Research Forschungslabor GmbH, Graz, Austria. mwindisch@jswresearch.com
Hutter-Paier
B
B
Schreiner
E
E
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors