ISSN: 2474-9214
Authors: Aninditha T, Lastri DN, Ramli Y and Purba JS*
Alzheimer disease (AD) is a long-term and progressive neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by both structural abnormalities and inflammation in the brain. Patients suffering from AD lose autonomy in their daily normal activities that steadily worsens memory and communicating skills and often accompanied by visual disturbances, eventually leads to a disabled person of performing simple daily tasks. Pathologic characteristics of AD are β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles. Current therapies till now only target the relief of symptoms using various drugs and psychotherapy and do not cure the disease. Unfortunately, few chemical drugs designed for clinical applications have reached the expected preventive or therapeutic effect so far, and combined with their significant side-effects. Traditional Herbal Medicine has accumulated many experiences in the treatment of dementia during thousands of years and modern pharmacological studies have confirmed the therapeutic effects of many active components derived from herbal medicines. Recently, stem cell therapy holds a great promise and provides a great research opportunity and has been shown to be a potential approach to various diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders. Here we review several stem cell transplantation studies with reference to both preclinical and clinical approaches. In this review, we focus on the need for developing herbal medicines and stem cell therapies for AD.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s Disease; Amyloid Beta Protein; Visual Disturbances; Inflammatory Process And Herbal Medicine; Stem Cell Therapy
