title: Immunotherapy of Alzheimer disease.
abstract: Optimism regarding the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer disease has begun to replace the attitude of therapeutic nihilism that clouded the field for so many decades. Neurotransmitter-based therapy with AChEls and NMDA receptor antagonists are now in current use; anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative approaches as well as compounds to block Abeta aggregation are being tested in the clinic; beta- and gamma-secretase inhibitors designed to reduce generation of Abeta peptides are under development. One of the more provocative developments in this field was the idea of vaccination against beta-amyloid. Despite vivid antagonism that was rapidly voiced by many concerned experts, there are actually several excellent reasons why brain beta-amyloid plaques are attractive immunotherapeutic targets for the treatment and prevention of AD.
authors.affiliation: University of Zurich, Division of Psychiatry Research, Zürich, Switzerland. nitsch@bli.unizh.ch
authors.forename: Roger M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Nitsch
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D000917:Antibody Formation; D003704:Dementia / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007167:Immunotherapy; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides