An update on Alzheimer's disease: Immunotherapeutic agents, stem cell therapy and gene editing

Life Sci. 2021 Oct 1:282:119790. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119790. Epub 2021 Jul 8.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a chronic lifestyle ailment whose occurrence has come to light with the increasing life expectancy due to better healthcare. The patient burden for AD is set to double by the year 2060 and advancement in research is of utmost importance to combat this problem. AD is characterized by the pathological hallmarks of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The disease has been implicated to have a genetic predisposition. The current treatment strategies are at best ameliorative in nature and offer no substantive cure. Immunotherapeutic approaches employed have shown few therapeutic benefits but the accelerated approval of aducanumab by the US-FDA shows clinical benefit merit. In addition, newer therapeutic approaches are the need of the hour. This review aims to highlight the pathology of the disease, followed by an insight into newer approaches like stem cell therapy and gene editing, focusing on possible CRISPR mediated targets.

Keywords: Alzheimer; CRISPR; Genome; Immunotherapy; Monoclonal antibody; Stem cell.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics
  • Alzheimer Disease / immunology
  • Alzheimer Disease / therapy*
  • Animals
  • Gene Editing / methods
  • Genetic Therapy / methods
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy / methods
  • Stem Cell Transplantation / methods