Time to test antibacterial therapy in Alzheimer ’s disease

AbstractAlzheimer ’s disease is associated with cerebral accumulation of amyloid-β peptide and hyperphosphorylated tau. In the past 28 years, huge efforts have been made in attempting to treat the disease by reducing brain accumulation of amyloid-β in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, with no success. While an ti-amyloid-β therapies continue to be tested in prodromal patients with Alzheimer’s disease and in subjects at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, there is an urgent need to provide therapeutic support to patients with established Alzheimer’s disease for whom current symptomatic treatment (acetylcholinesterase inhibitors andN-methyld-aspartate antagonist) provide limited help. The possibility of an infectious aetiology for Alzheimer ’s disease has been repeatedly postulated over the past three decades. Infiltration of the brain by pathogens may act as a trigger or co-factor for Alzheimer’s disease, with Herpes simplex virus type 1,Chlamydia pneumoniae, andPorphyromonas gingivalis being most frequently implicated. These pathogens may directly cross a weakened blood –brain barrier, reach the CNS and cause neurological damage by eliciting neuroinflammation. Alternatively, pathogens may cross a weakened intestinal barrier, reach vascular circulation and then cross blood–brain barrier or cause low grade chronic inflammation and subsequent neuroinflammation fro m the periphery. The gut microbiota comprises a complex community of microorganisms. Incre...
Source: Brain - Category: Neurology Source Type: research