Abstract
The cause of Alzheimer's disease is still unknown, but the disease is distinctively characterized by the accumulation of β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. These features have become the primary focus of much of the research looking for new treatments for the disease, including immunotherapy and vaccines targeting β-amyloid in the brain. Adverse effects observed in a clinical trial based on the β-amyloid protein were attributed to the presence of the target antigen and emphasized the relevance of finding safer antigen candidates for active immunization. For this kind of approach, different vaccine formulations using DNA, peptide, and heterologous prime-boost immunization regimens have been proposed. Promising results are expected from different vaccine candidates encompassing B-cell epitopes of the β-amyloid protein. In addition, recent results indicate that targeting another protein involved in the etiology of the disease has opened new perspectives for the effective prevention of the illness. Collectively, the evidence indicates that the idea of finding an effective vaccine for the control of Alzheimer's disease, although not without challenges, is a possibility.
Highlights
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia in elderly people, is characterized by a progressive decline of brain functions, including memory, language, spatial orientation, and behavior, resulting in death
The physician described cerebral atrophy, deposits of fibrous structures in neurons in the cortical area of the brain, and extracellular plaquelike lesions [1]. The features he described are currently recognized as typical of AD, whose pathology is characterized by gliosis and tissue atrophy mainly caused by the loss of synapses, especially pronounced in the cortex and hippocampus regions of the brain [2]
Much of the research related to vaccines against AD has focused on the reduction of senile plaques in the brain by generating antibodies specific to the Ab peptide through active immunization [21,22]
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia in elderly people, is characterized by a progressive decline of brain functions, including memory, language, spatial orientation, and behavior, resulting in death. This disease was first described by the German physician Alois Alzheimer in 1906 (published in 1907), based on his studies of a 51-year-old female patient who presented symptoms of dementia, beginning with changes in personality and progressive memory loss, and a life prognosis of 4 to 5 years after the initial symptoms. It is interesting to note that the mortality rate of AD tends to increase over the years, unlike other major causes of death, such as heart disease and cancer The explanation for this phenomenon could be the trend toward aging of the human population, and the association of AD with this specific age group. The neurofibrillary tangles are formed by the hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein, which plays an essential role in inducing Ab toxicity as well as mitochondrial dysfunction in AD [9,10,11]
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