Current Pharmacotherapeutic Approaches for Management of Alzheimer’s Disease

Authors: Sucharitha A*, Bhuvana D and Shrisha S Raj

DOI: 10.23880/artoa-16000118

Volume 7, Issue 1

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with insidious onset which involves irreversible worsening modifications in cognitive behavior and other principal mental functions. Alzheimer’s disease is considered the most common type of dementia, which probably begins with mild memory deficits and possibly leads to a consequential decline in basic mental abilities such as losing the capacity for recognizable speech and failing to process new information. The pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular amyloid-β plaques, neurofibrillary tangles formed due to hyperphosphorylated tau proteins in the intracellular environment, and neuroinflammation. Nevertheless, no neuroprotective or neuro-regenerative drug is available at present that targets the treatment of AD. Current treatment for AD predominantly involves mitigating the symptoms in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, multiple target strategies have been initiated, aiming at multiple targets involved in developing Alzheimer’s disease. In the pharmacotherapeutic approaches to AD, the drugs that are approved by the FDA and are currently available for management and treatment include- Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, β site amyloid precursor protein cleavage enzyme 1 (BACE1) inhibitors, and monoclonal antibodies, which mainly enhances the Aβ and tau pathology that boosts acetylcholine levels and inhibits hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins. Therefore, this review summarizes and briefly analyzes the current strategies in therapeutic approaches for the management of Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s Disease; Dementia; Amyloid-Β Plaques; Neurofibrillary Tangles; Hyperphosphorylated Tau Proteins; Neuroinflammation; Aβ Pathology; Tau Pathology; Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors; N-Methyl D-Aspartate Receptor Antagonists; Monoclonal Antibodies

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