Current Alzheimer Research - Volume 4, Issue 1, 2007

Current Alzheimer Research enters the fourth year of successful publication with a great sense of fulfilling our mission. During the last year, five issues of its third volume have been completed and published on time. The third volume featured a total of 65 articles in addition to Editorials.These articles, comprising primary research articles and review papers, were written and peer-reviewed by experts in neuroscience and Alzhei Read More

The manipulation of transmembrane signaling by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitutes perhaps the single most important therapeutic target in medicine. Therapeutics acting on GPCRs have traditionally been classified as agonists, partial agonists, or antagonists based on a two state model of receptor function embodied in the ternary complex model. Over the past decade, however, many lines of investigation have s Read More

For over fifty years lithium has been a fundamental component of therapy for patients with bipolar disorders. Lithium has been considered recently for its potential to alleviate neuronal loss and other neurodegeneration processes. For instance, lithium reduces the severity of some behavioral complications of Alzheimer's disease (AD). And there are growing indications that lithium may be of benefit to the underlying pathology Read More

There is evidence to suggest that testosterone loss constitutes a risk for cognitive decline and possibly dementia, and that elderly men might benefit from exogenous supplementation of testosterone. Studies in non-human animals repeatedly report neuroexcitatory and neuroprotective properties of testosterone and enhanced memory performance after acute or chronic treatment. Positive effects of testosterone supple Read More

The pineal and retinal melatonin regulates endogenous circadian rhythms, and has various physiological functions including neuromodulatory and vasoactive actions, antioxidative and neuroprotective properties. We have previously demonstrated that the melatonin 1a-receptor (MT1) is localized in human retinal cells and that the expression of MT1 is increased in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. We now present the firs Read More

Abnormalities in the intricate intracellular signalling pathways play a key role in the deregulation of either spontaneous (normal or pathological) or induced (therapeutic) cell death mechanisms. Some of these pathways are increasingly becoming molecular therapeutic targets in different processes, ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to cancer. Recent discoveries in research and treatment have shown that failure t Read More

Osteopontin (OPN) is a glycophosphoprotein expressed by several cell types and has pro-adhesive, chemotactic, and cytokine-like properties. OPN is involved in a number of physiologic and pathologic events including angiogenesis, apoptosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, remyelination, wound healing, bone remodeling, cell migration and tumorigenesis. Since these functions of OPN, and the events that it regulates, are involved Read More

A large number of studies has firmly established that increases in oxidative damage occurs in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Such studies have demonstrated that increased in oxidative damage selectively occurs within the brain regions involved in regulating cognitive performance. Studies from our laboratory and others have provided experimental evidence that increased levels of oxidative damage occur in subjects with M Read More

In this 10-week, double-blind, fixed-dose study, elderly institutionalized patients with dementia and agitation were randomized (3:3:2) to quetiapine 200mg/day, 100mg/day, or placebo. The primary endpoint was change in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)-Excitement Component (EC) scores at endpoint, analysed using last observation carried forward (LOCF) and observed cases (OC) approaches. Other efficacy me Read More