Análise da estrutura eletrônica da tacrina e do neurotransmissor acetilcolina.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a more common neurodegenerative process in the elderly population, characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive abilities, such as memory, language skills, disorientation, attention and depression. Cholinergic hypothesis therapy is the most successful approach for the symptomatic treatment of AD. The therapy consists in the use of drugs with inhibitory action against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to avoid the decrease of acetylcholine concentration in synaptic clefts. Thus, this research aims to carry out the electronic and structural study of tacrina drug compared to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, through computational calculations based on theoretical chemistry, using PM6 semi-empirical method jointly to DFT and MP2 methods.