Author(s)

Xicheng He, Ji Luo, Chang Xue

Corresponding Author

Xicheng He

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia [1]. AD is a kind of neurodegenerative disease which is unsolvable nowadays. The amyloid-β cascade hypothesis is one of the older hypotheses about the mechanism of the disease. At present, researchers’ understanding of the genetic factors of the hypothesis extends to the study of the function of specific genes. The influence of environmental factors on the disease is also being actively studied, and other further research is being conducted through the holes in this hypothesis. Based on the amyloid-β cascade hypothesis, researchers proposed the possible pathogenesis of AD, and further discovered many different treatments. For example, immunotherapy-based drugs aducanumab and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to be effective. Aβ receptor antagonist is now in phase III trial. This paper will introduce the structure of amyloid-β and amyloid plaque and explain the amyloid cascade hypothesis from both genetic and environmental factors. The focus is on the development background of related drugs and the therapeutic effects of the two main proposed therapies for AD. In the future, further studies on the pathogenesis of AD are still required to find targets for intervention. The introduction and summary of the hypothesis and corresponding therapies may make the achievements of the scientists in this direction clearly visible.

KEYWORDS

Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-β, amyloid cascade hypothesis, amyloid precursor proteins, treatments