Neural regeneration therapies for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease-related disorders

Publication date: Available online 2 July 2019Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of DiseaseAuthor(s): Arubala P. Reddy, Janani Ravichandran, Nurgul Carcaci-SalliAbstractNeurodegenerative diseases are devastating mental illnesses without a cure. Alzheimer's disease (AD) characterized by memory loss, multiple cognitive impairments, and changes in personality and behavior. Although tremendous progress has made in understanding the basic biology in disease processes in AD and PD, we still do not have early detectable biomarkers for these diseases. Just in the United States alone, federal and nonfederal funding agencies have spent billions of dollars on clinical trials aimed at finding drugs, but we still do not have a drug or an agent that can slow the AD or PD disease process. One primary reason for this disappointing result may be that the clinical trials enroll patients with AD or PD at advances stages. Although many drugs and agents are tested preclinical and are promising, in human clinical trials, they are mostly ineffective in slowing disease progression. One therapy that has been promising is ‘stem cell therapy’ based on cell culture and pre-clinical studies. In the few clinical studies that have investigated therapies in clinical trials with AD and PD patients at stage I. The therapies, such as stem cell transplantation – appear to delay the symptoms in AD and PD. The purpose of this article is to describe clinical trials using 1) stem ce...
Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Molecular Basis of Disease - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research