Review article
Alzheimer’s disease: from molecular mechanism to early diagnosis
Martina Malnar
; Division of molecular medicine, Neurodegenerative diseases research group, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Marko Košiček
; Division of molecular medicine, Neurodegenerative diseases research group, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Silva Hećimović
; Division of molecular medicine, Neurodegenerative diseases research group, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementi a. Although the
disease and its main pathological features, senile plaques and neurofi brillary tangles, have
been discovered over 100 years ago, there is sti ll no adequate therapy that would treat,
slow progression or prevent the genesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Since altered metabolism of
the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and altered formati on of amyloid-β pepti de (Aβ) play
a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, understanding their mechanism of
formati on and clearance is important for designing new therapies for AD. Development of
novel diagnosti c methods that will enable early and accurate diagnosis of AD is of high importance.
It is esti mated that any new interventi on against AD will have its greatest eff ect if
applied early in the pathogenesis of the disease, when the brain is not that much aff ected.
Anaylsis of the three proteins in the cerebrospinal fl uid (CSF) (Aβ42, total tau and phoshotau)
gave the best results unti l now and showed that this test could be used for diff erenti al
diagnosis of AD as well as for diagnosis of non-demented individuals and mildly cogniti vely
impaired (MCI) individuals who will progress to AD in the future. Thus, the goal of the biomarker
research is to identi fy changes that will diagnose AD in its earliest stage. We hope
that diff erent aspects of reserach on AD will generate novel therapies and/or will help in
preventi ng Alzheimer’s disease.
Keywords
amyloid-β; cerebrospinal fluid; dementia; diagnosis; tau
Hrčak ID:
43664
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2009.
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