Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a condition that afflicts millions of people around the world. Although the cause of AD is not completely understood, there are a number of hypotheses used to explain the mechanism that results in AD. Two distinct features of AD are senile plaques, which are made up of amyloid ß (Aß) peptide aggregates, and neurofibrillary tangles, which are made up of tau protein that has been hyperphosphorylated. According to the cholinergic hypothesis, there is a strong connection between Aß peptide accumulation and cholinergic disfunction. Reduced RNA processing has been attributed to cholinergic signaling disfunction resulting in the depletion of dendrites in cortical neurons, which has been shown to be increased in the latter stages of AD. One method to prevent acetylcholine (ACh) breakdown is via cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs). Using these inhibitors helps to keep ACh within the synapse and allows it to reach cholinergic neurons, thereby reducing cholinergic disfunction. This allows for individuals with AD to be treated with ChEIs, although they can cause various side effects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/47447 |
| Date | 03 November 2023 |
| Creators | Elshazali, Shazli |
| Contributors | Tornheim, Keith, Flynn, David |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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