Introduction: Alzheimer s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and (it accounts for 60-80 %). The certain diagnosis is made thanks to the brain patients study. Since 1970 there have been developed experimental models that have done a deep approach of this disease and new therapeutic researching.
Methods: We review all the papers published about experimental models in AD, and all the new therapeutical approaches base don them using the database Pubmed.
Results: Animal models aim to replicate the symptoms, the lesions or the cause(s) of AD. It has been described many experimental models in AD. There are animal models based on the metabolism of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) (human APPwild type wt- o the mutants forms), other based on Presenilin (PS) (transgenic mice that overexpress the form wild-type or the mutant ones), the double mutants PS/APP that develop the lesions earlier. There are other based on tau protein (tau-JNPL3) or the triple transgenic PS/APP/tau. There are also lines with altered expression of neprilysin, the main degrading enzyme of Abeta and also models based on APOE. Other models are rats, chick embryo, dog, primates and cetacean, cell culture of mature hippocampic neurons and the effects of the Abeta oligomers in them (soluble toxic species).
Conclusions: Experimental models in AD have supposed a key tool in order to know deeply about neurodegenerative diseases, over all AD. Besides they allow us design new therapeutic approaches.