Animal Models of Alzheimer's Disease: An Understanding of Pathology and Therapeutic Avenues

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with unclear etiology for a few decades. Many animal models employed to study the etiology of the disease and test the efficacy of a drug could give limited understanding of these events. Introduction of aluminum salts into aged New Zealand rabbit brain could demonstrate neurofibrillary tangle formation in 1965. This outstanding contribution substantiated the role of aluminum in Alzheimer's disease in turn becoming the basis further molecular studies in rabbits. In this review, various animal models (transgenic mice, rats, rabbits, zebrafish) used to study the pathology of the disease and to test the efficacy of a drug have been summarized. It also focuses on the growing need to unravel the molecular underpinnings of the disease progression.

Apoptosis in Alzheimer’s Disease: An Understanding of the Physiology, Pathology and Therapeutic Avenues

“…AD being a deleterious neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly reposes a robust threat to the developed nations with burgeoning patients and annual costs on health care system [1,2]. Its etiology entails oxidative stress, deposition of extracellular amyloid beta (Ab) plaques, formation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), metal mediated neurotoxicity, mutations in genes, neuroinflammation, hyperphosphorylation of tau and apoptosis [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Tau Mediated Neurodegeneration: An Insight into Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology

“…Extracellular deposition of beta amyloid, intracellular NFT formation and oxidative stress induced by impaired metabolic pathways and metals are the hallmarks of AD [1][2][3][4][5]. Wealth of studies showed more than 4 decades ago that microtubule-based axonal transport and synaptic function might be impaired in AD [6][7][8][9].…”

Neuronal histamine and cognitive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease

“…Additionally, since the H1R has been recently implicated in hippocampal neurogenesis (Ambree et al, 2014), it would be interesting to examine whether the application of histamine-related agents (including the histamine precursor Lhistidine) would enhance adult neurogenesis in animal models of Alzheimer's disease that exhibit hippocampal neurodegeneration (Cavanaugh et al, 2014;Duff, 1997;Kitazawa et al, 2012;Marlatt et al, 2010;Obulesu et al, 2010).…”