Immunological Aspects and Anti-Amyloid Strategy for Alzheimer’s Dementia

Abstract

Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the most common form of dementia among the elderly, accounting for at least two-thirds of all dementia cases. It represents a costly burden, since its global prevalence is estimated at 24 million cases. Amyloid beta or Aβ plaques and neurofi brillary tangles defi ne AD pathologically but do not fully explain it, because dementia may also be caused by infl ammation resulting in neuronal, axonal synaptic loss and dysfunction. An important component of AD pathophysiology are amyloid plaques surrounded by activated microglia, cytokines, and complement components, suggesting infl ammation. In the diagnosis of AD, cerebrospinal fl uid markers, especially in vivo amyloid measurements, contribute to an accurate assessment of AD pathology and differential diagnosis. Aβ levels are a very good marker for the presence of amyloid deposits in the brain, while total tau and phosphorylated tau are useful for the detection of neurodegeneration. The implementation of anti-amyloid therapy and other disease-modifying interventions may have immense clinical impact if initiated at an early or presymptomatic stage of AD, before signifi cant brain damage occurs. This paper briefl y reviews the abovementioned topics and provides recommendations for future studies.

Distinctive Features of Histochemical and Immunohistochemical Techniques for Amyloid Plaque Detection in the Human Cerebral Cortex

“…В связи с этим, мы полагаем, что малое количество амилоидных скоплений, выявляемое при использовании Конго красного в коре головного мозга пожилых людей, связано со структурными особенностями формирующихся амилоидных скоплений. Это подтверждается имеющимися в литературе данными, свидетельствующими о существовании нескольких разновидностей амилоидных бляшек [9,16,19,22,24]. Большинство исследователей выделяет три основ-ных типа -диффузные (или незрелые) бляшки, классические (или нейритные) бляшки и выгоревшие (от англ.…”