CURRENT AND FUTURE APPROACHES TO THERAPY OF ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

Two main approaches can be adopted in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD): alleviation of cognitive deficits and/or slowing down neurodegenerative processes occurring at least in part in certain acetylcholine (ACh) rich regions of the brain. The symptomatic treatment of AD includes drugs that directly or indirectly enhance cholinergic function (acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, muscarinic agonists, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, ACh releasers and nootropics). Strategies aimed at delaying or reducing the brain degenerative process could include drugs that inhibit amyloid-beta protein formation (protease inhibitors) and toxicity (tachykinin receptors agonists), and molecules that protect and repair still existing neurons (free radical scavengers, neuronal growth factors).