Search results for "Alzheimer's"

Alzheimer’s disease and infections, where we stand and where we go

2014

Editorial Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurological disorder, which represents the most common form of dementia, one of the major causes of disability in later life. Age is the greatest risk factor for AD, which typically affects people aged 65 years and over, with an age-standardised prevalence of 4.4 [1]. However, AD is not a normal part of ageing and advanced age alone does not justify the disease. Several pathways have been implicated in AD pathophysiology, the most described is the neurodegenerative one, which lead to the brain accumulation of beta-amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles, aggregations of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, macroscopically resulting in brain atrop…

Antioxidants as a Potential Therapy Against Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases: Amyloid Beta Toxicity and Alzheimers Disease

2006

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive age-related neurodegenerative disorder with distinct neuropathological features. Extracellular plaques, consisting of aggregated amyloid peptides of 39-43 amino acids are one of the most prominent pathological hallmarks of this disease. Although the exact neurochemical effector mechanism of Abeta aggregation is not yet elucidated, age-associated disturbances of metal ion metabolism have been proposed to promote the formation of aggregates from soluble Abeta. Oxidative stress is postulated to be a downstream effect of Abeta-metal ion interactions. Therefore, the modulation of brain metal metabolism and attenuation of oxidative stress by antioxidant m…

Cellular Distribution and Expression of Cortical Acetylcholine Receptors in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease

1991

Ligand binding studies show marked reductions of nicotinic, but not of muscarinic binding sites in Alzheimer's disease. Using monoclonal antibodies we studied immunohistochemically the expression of the respective receptor proteins in the frontal cortex of middle-aged (55 +/- 5 yr) controls, age-matched controls (73 +/- 6 yr), and patients with Alzheimer's disease (74 +/- 5 yr). Density of nicotinic cholinoceptive neurons was 8000/mm3 for middle-aged controls and 4000/mm3 for age-matched controls, but only 900/mm3 in Alzheimer's brains (p less than 0.0001). Densities of muscarinic cholinoceptive and of Nissl-stained neurons were not significantly different between the groups, pointing to a …

Awareness of Cognitive Decline in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021

Background: Identifying a poor degree of awareness of cognitive decline (ACD) could represent an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease (AD).Objectives: (1) to understand whether there is evidence of poor ACD in the pre-dementia stages of AD; (2) to summarize the main findings obtained investigating ACD in AD; (3) to propose a conceptual framework.Data Sources: We searched Scopus, Pubmed, and the reference lists for studies published up to August 2020. Original research articles must report a measure of ACD and included individuals with AD dementia, or prodromal AD (or MCI), or being at risk for AD.Data Synthesis: All studies covering preclinical, prodromal, and AD dementia were systematica…

Idebenone in senile dementia of Alzheimer type: A multicentre study

1992

Idebenone is a new cerebro-active drug, effective in dementia disorders, particularly indicated in primary degenerative dementias, i.e. Alzheimer's disease. This new molecule acts as an electron trapper and a free radical scavenger protecting mitochondrial membranes from lipid peroxidation. A multicentric, double-blind trial of idebenone (45 mg twice daily orally) vs. placebo was carried out on 102 elderly patients affected by Alzheimer-type dementia of mild or moderate severity. Idebenone was administered for 4 consecutive months, 45 mg twice daily. Clinical evaluations were performed at the time of enrollment (t0) and monthly thereafter (t30, t60, t90 and t120) and at follow-up (t150 ). T…

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SYNAPTIC PROTEOME IN NON-DEMENTED SUBJECTS WITH ALZHEIMER’S NEUROPATHOLOGY

Some individuals, here refereed to as Non-Demented with Alzheimer’s Neuropathology (NDAN), retain their congitive function despite the presence of amyloid plaques and tau tangles typical of symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). In NDAN, unlike AD, toxic amyloid beta oligomers do not localize to the postsynaptic densities (PSDs). Synaptic resistance to amyloid beta in NDAN may thus enable these individuals to remain cognitively intact despite the AD-like pathology. The mechanim(s) responsible for this resistance remains unresolved and understanding such protective biological processes could reveal novel targets for the development of effective treatments for AD. The current work describes th…

SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF CURCUMIN ANALOGUES AS NEURO-PROTECTIVE AGENTS FOR THE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

2013

The Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of senile dementia.1 The most important role in AD is played by the aggregation process of beta-amyloid peptide (Aß), responsible for the cytotoxic effects.2 In this context, the purpose of this study was to synthesize new dicarbonyl compounds 1 structurally related to curcumin3, with anti-aggregation activity against Aß.Parallel studies involve the synthesis of heterocyclic-based curcumin-like molecules that are currently under investigation by means of in silico protocols in order to rationalize the ligand-biological target interactions.

EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF NEUROGENESIS IN NON-DEMENTED HUMANS WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE NEUROPATHOLOGY

This project was designed to investigate the role of neurogenesis and its epigenetic regulation by microRNA in the preservation of cognition against Alzheimer’s disease. This was accomplished by comparing by immunohistochemistry the capacity for neurogenesis in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus in 4 distinct populations of human subject’s tissue representing the full disease, intermediate cognitive decline, healthy controls, and a poorly characterized group who have all of the histopathological hallmarks of the full disease but are cognitively normal. To investigate the microRNAs of interest in the correct context, as microRNA expression can vary significantly by region, the granular …

Near infrared light to promote synaptic resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease neuropathology

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a multifactorial neurodegenerative dementia with no curative therapeutic options. One of the earliest impairments in AD triggering cognitive decline is the synaptic dysfunction induced by the selective targeting and interruption of the synaptic region by the small oligomeric form of amyloid beta (Aβ). Recently, the co-presence of Aβ oligomers (Aβo) and tau oligomers (tau-o) at the synapses has been suggested to exacerbate this dysfunction. Therefore, the development of therapeutics aimed at protecting the synapses from the toxic binding of both proteins at the synapses can preserve synaptic health and cognitive function. With this goal in mind, the present study …

Coconut oil: non-alternative drug treatment against alzheimer's disease

2015

Introducción: la enfermedad de Alzheimer es la demencia más prevalente en la actualidad. En cuanto al tratamiento, no existe cura farmacológica definitiva, con lo cual son necesarias nuevas alternativas terapéuticas. En este sentido, los triglicéridos de cadena media suponen una fuente directa de energía celular y pueden ser una alternativa no farmacológica a la muerte neuronal por falta de la misma, que se produce en los enfermos de Alzheimer. Objetivo: evaluar el impacto que tiene el aceite de coco en la evolución de la demencia tipo Alzheimer, en cualquier grado de demencia. Asimismo, determinar si existe influencia en dicha mejora, de variables como el sexo y padecer o no diabetes melli…