Abstract
The first drugs developed for Alzheimer's disease (AD), anticholinesterase inhibitors
(AchEI), increase acetylcholine levels, previously demonstrated to be reduced in AD.
To date, four AchEI are approved for the treatment of mild to moderate AD. A further
therapeutic option available for moderate to severe AD is memantine. These treatments
are symptomatic, whereas drugs under development are supposed to modify pathological
steps leading to AD, thus acting on the evolution of the disease. For this reason
they are currently termed “disease modifying” drugs. To block the progression of the
disease, they have to interfere with pathogenic steps at the basis of clinical symptoms,
including the deposition of extracellular amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques and of intracellular
neurofibrillary tangles. The most innovative approach is represented by the vaccination
and passive immunization against Aβ peptide.
In this article, current knowledge about concluded and ongoing clinical trials with
both vaccination with different antigens and passive immunization will be reviewed
and discussed.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 07, 2013
Accepted:
December 10,
2012
Received in revised form:
November 9,
2012
Received:
September 29,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
