Current Alzheimer Research - Volume 8, Issue 5, 2011

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One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of senile plaques composed of extra-cellular aggregates of beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptides. It is well established that at least in vitro, Aβ triggers apoptotic cell death via the activation of caspase-dependent and -independent cell death effectors, namely caspase-3 and apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), respectively. Epidemiological studies have reported that elderly p Read More

Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain is characterized by amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) deposits, neurofibrillary tangles, synapse loss, and extensive oxidative stress. Aβ-induced oxidative stress is indexed by protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation, free radical formation, DNA oxidation and neuronal cell death. Oxidative stress is combated by antioxidants. Antioxidants and nutrition have long been considered as an approach to slow down AD pro Read More

The current rise in the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unfortunately not matched by new treatment options. In the last 10 years, epidemiological, preclinical and clinical data have enlightened the possible preventive action of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) in AD and other diseases. While the contribution of recent studies to our general knowledge is priceless, many important new questions ha Read More

Epidemiological studies suggest a protective role of omega-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) against Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, most intervention studies of supplementation with n-3 PUFA have yielded disappointing results. One reason for such discordant results may result from inadequate targeting of individuals who might benefit from the supplementation, in particular because of their genetic susceptibilit Read More

At present, the search for preventive strategies for cognitive decline and dementia appears to be of crucial importance, given that the therapeutic options currently available have demonstrated limited efficacy. Cumulative epidemiological evidence suggested that vascular and vascular-related factors may be important for the development of agerelated cognitive decline (ARCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and cognitive d Read More

Much of the attention on diet and Alzheimer's disease (AD) or cognition among the elderly has focused on the role of single nutrients or foods, while available information on dietary pattern (DP) analysis, which better reflects the complexity of the diet, is sparse. In this review, we describe different patterning approaches and present studies performed to date that have assessed the associations between DPs and risk of AD Read More

There is a critical need to potentially individualize new strategies able to prevent and to slow down the progression of predementia and dementia syndromes. Only recently higher adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet was associated with decreased cognitive decline although the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) combines several foods, micro- and macronutrients already separately proposed as potential protective facto Read More

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Recently, a number of epidemiological studies have shown that some dietary factors such as low antioxidants and vitamins intake could increase the risk of AD. In the opposite, diets rich in unsaturated fatty acids, in polyphenols, vitamins and antioxidants were identified as preventive factors. Several studies have reported that adherence to the Medit Read More

Soluble oligomers of the amyloid-β peptide (AβOs) accumulate in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain and have been implicated in mechanisms of pathogenesis. The neurotoxicity of AβOs appears to be, at least in part, due to dysregulation of glutamate signaling. Here, we show that AβOs promote extracellular accumulation of glutamate and D-serine, a co-agonist at glutamate receptors of the N-methyl-D-aspartate subtyp Read More

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been widely implicated in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Evidence shows a mitochondrial-mediated impairment of autophagy that potentiates amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition. Accordingly, recent data obtained from AD models, in which mitochondrial alterations are a prominent feature, demonstrated abnormalities in microtubule network, involving tubulin and tau post-translational mo Read More

AICD is the intracellular subdomain of the amyloid precursor protein thought to play a pivotal role as a potential transcription factor that might be of relevance for the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease. For its signal transduction potential AICD requires interacting proteins like FE65 and TIP60. However, many other proteins were described being able to bind to AICD. Here, we studied mRNA levels of AICD interacting prot Read More

Treatment with neurotrophic agents might enhance and/or prolong the effects of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We compared the safety and efficacy of the neurotrophic compound Cerebrolysin (10 ml; n=64), donepezil (10 mg; n=66) and a combination of both treatments (n=67) in mild-to-moderate (mini-mental state examination-MMSE score 12-25) probable AD patients enrolled in a randomiz Read More

Introduction: Two phase 3 studies evaluated the efficacy and safety of rosiglitazone (RSG), a type 2 diabetes treatment, in an extended release (RSG XR) form as adjunctive therapy to ongoing acetylcholine esterase inhibitor (AChEI) treatment in AD (REFLECT-2, adjunctive to donepezil; REFLECT-3, to any AChEI). An open-label extension study (REFLECT-4) assessed RSG XR long-term safety. Methods: In these two double- Read More