New Frontiers in the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

One of the major puzzles in medical research and public health systems worldwide is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), reaching nowadays a prevalence near 50 million people. This is a multifactorial brain disorder characterized by progressive cognitive impairment, apathy, and mood and neuropsychiatric disorders. The main risk of AD is aging; a normal biological process associated with a continuum dynamic involving a gradual loss of people’s physical capacities, but with a sound experienced view of life. Studies suggest that AD is a break from normal aging with changes in the powerful functional capacities of neurons as well as in the mechanisms of neuronal protection. In this context, an important path has been opened toward AD prevention considering that there are elements of nutrition, daily exercise, avoidance of toxic substances and drugs, an active social life, meditation, and control of stress, to achieve healthy aging. Here, we analyze the involvement of such factors and how to control environmental risk factors for a better quality of life. Prevention as well as innovative screening programs for early detection of the disease using reliable biomarkers are becoming critical to control the disease. In addition, the failure of traditional pharmacological treatments and search for new drugs has stimulated the emergence of nutraceutical compounds in the context of a “multitarget” therapy, as well as mindfulness approaches shown to be effective in the aging, and applied to the control of AD. An integrated approach involving all these preventive factors combined with novel pharmacological approaches should pave the way for the future control of the disease.

Neuroprotective Potential of Tamarillo (Cyphomandra betacea) Epicarp Extracts Obtained by Sustainable Extraction Process

“…Regarding flavonoids, compounds 20 and 21 were tentatively assigned to rutin and quercetin hexoside, respectively, which were distinguished on the basis of their typical loss of sugar moiety (rutinose or hexose) resulting in the fragment ions observed at m/z 301 (71). HCA and CGA derivatives, as well as flavonoids, have been described as the major types of phenolic compounds in the golden-yellow tamarillo According to Table 4, the UHPLC-q-TOF-MS/MS analysis of the T33 extract revealed an important group of phenolic acids, such as 4-hydroxycinnamic (9), caffeic (14), rosmarinic (25), and chlorogenic isomer (10,12) acids, as well as quercetin hexoside (21) and rutin (20) into the flavonoid group that could play an important role in AChE inhibition. In fact, the contribution to the enzyme inhibitory activity attributed to rosmarinic acid (25,80,81) and the neuroprotective effect exerted by quercetin, among others (45)(46)(47) are widely recognized.…”

Some Candidate Drugs for Pharmacotherapy of Alzheimer’s Disease

“…It seems that multitarget therapy, as recommended by Guzman-Martinez et al [192], as well as taking preventive measures (proper nutrition, nutraceutics, exercising, active social and mental life, avoidance of toxic substances) may be recommended to AD patients or persons at risk of AD. Certain drugs (for instance, these enhancing neurotrophic signaling) would have to be implemented at early stages of AD.…”

Plasma Glutathione Levels Decreased with Cognitive Decline among People with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): A Two-Year Prospective Study

“…MCI, especially amnestic MCI (aMCI), is a risk factor or a prodromal stage of AD [ 8 , 9 ]. Of note, early intervention, for example, in the MCI stage, is crucial for the future control of this neurodegenerative disease, because the brain changes in pathology are found years or even decades before the cognitive and functional decline in AD patients [ 8 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Therefore, it is imperative to discover clinically feasible biomarkers that can predict or monitor the outcome or course of MCI [ 11 , 13 ].…”