Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was first described by German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and was named after him. It is the most common form of dementia and highly prevalent. AD is predicted to affect one in 85 people globally by 2050. Well-known examples include Ronald Reagan, former US President, and Charles K. Kao, recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics. The neuropathology of AD is characterized by loss of neurons and synapses in cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. Both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are clearly visible by microscopy in brains of those afflicted by AD. However, the cause for most Alzheimer’s cases remains essentially unknown, except for 1%–5% of cases where genetic differences have been identified. Several competing hypotheses exist, trying to explain the cause of this disease, such as cholinergic hypothesis, amyloid hypothesis, and Tau hypothesis.
Highlights
The neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by loss of neurons and synapses in cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions
Both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are clearly visible by microscopy in brains of those afflicted by AD
We briefly review some progress made in this area by Chinese researchers
Summary
China’s population of old age has been increasing. AD is most often diagnosed in people over 65 years of age. Because AD is the most common cause of progressive cognitive decline in the aged population and most often diagnosed in people over 65 years of age, what is the relationship between brain aging and AD has to be considered. It was shown that the overload of iron and copper might have close relationships with oxidative stress damage in the later phase of AD, while the deficiency of them might be relevant to the early initiation of AD. This may be useful for further research on the prevention and therapy of AD. Further studies of ERβ in mice suggested that ERβ might play roles in regulating mitochondrial function and affect the function of neurons
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