Authors: Ringheim, G. E.; Szczepanik, A. M.

Source: Current Pharmaceutical Design, Volume 12, Number 6, February 2006 , pp. 719-738(20)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents one of the most common ailments afflicting the rapidly growing elderly segment of today's population. Despite the vast amount of effort expended in developing a cure, currently approved drugs address only cognitive symptoms that, although important for improving a patient's daily living standard, do not provide a significant delay or halt to disease progression. Early reports that individuals taking anti-inflammatory medications reduce their risk of developing AD has led to the "inflammation hypothesis" of AD and the subsequent testing of these drugs in the clinic. Tests of a select few of these medications in AD clinical trials have, however, yielded disappointing results. Reports of statin-based medications reducing the risk of AD have also led to the testing of this class of drugs in the clinic. Recently, the approval of the NMDA receptor antagonist memantine (Namenda®) has provided clinical support for glutamatergic processes in the disease and generated a renewed interest in the role of excitatory amino acids in the etiology of AD. In this review, we take a closer look at these three compelling areas for addressing AD therapeutics: inflammation, cholesterol, and glutamate. We present arguments that these components are interconnected and mutually regulate processes involved in AD progression. Special focus is given to inflammation as a central feature of AD that may be acting in synergy with cholesterol and glutamate to mediate the observed pathophysiology.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; inflammation; cholesterol; statins; glutamate

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138161206775474215

Affiliations: 1: Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Route 202-206, Mail Stop: G303A, Bridgewater, NJ 08807, USA.

Publication date: 2006-02-01

More about this publication?

• Current Pharmaceutical Design publishes timely in-depth reviews covering all aspects of current research in rational drug design. Each issue is devoted to a single major therapeutic area. A Guest Editor who is an acknowledged authority in a therapeutic field has solicits for each issue comprehensive and timely reviews from leading researchers in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
  
  Each thematic issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design covers all subject areas of major importance to modern drug design, including: medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, drug targets and disease mechanism.

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