Current Target Development and Future Prospects of Alzheimer s Disease

Review Article

Austin Alzheimers J Parkinsons Dis. 2025; 8(1): 1043.

Current Target Development and Future Prospects of Alzheimer’s Disease

Snehal N Tayade and Saurabh Maru*

Department of Pharmacology, SVKM’s NMIMS School of Pharmacy and Technology Management, Babulde, Shirpur, 425405 Maharashtra, India

*Corresponding author: Mr. Saurabh Maru, Assistant Professor, SPTM Shirpur, NMIMS Deemed to be University, India Email: skmaru@gmail.com

Received: May 06, 2025 Accepted: June 10, 2025 Published: June 12, 2025

Abstract

Alzheimer’s is a leading neurodegenerative disease, but we’re still searching for treatments that can truly stop or reverse it. The good news is, we’re getting better at spotting it early, even before symptoms show up, thanks to advances in brain imaging. While the “amyloid hypothesis” (targeting amyloid plaques in the brain) has been a major focus for drug development, these antiamyloid drugs haven’t delivered the hoped-for clinical benefits. It’s becoming clear that other factors, like individual differences in brain resilience (“cognitive reserve”), also play a role in how the disease progresses. Newer research is exploring other avenues, like targeting tau protein, inflammation in the brain, and problems with how brain cells connect. But there are challenges, like the high cost of developing brain drugs and the possibility that some people are naturally resistant to cognitive decline (“anti-CDR”). To make real progress against Alzheimer’s, we need researchers in universities and companies to work together, sharing a common goal of better diagnosis and innovative treatments.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s Disease; Pathophysiology; Clinical trial; Biomarkers; TAU; Neuroinflammation; Synaptic dysfunction; Anti-CDR; CDRenablement

Introduction

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease clinically characterized by impaired memory and cognitive function [1]. Despite recent advancements in medical care, therapeutic strategies, and dementia research, the currently approved treatment can only mitigate the symptoms [2]. In AD, a decrease in the level of neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and a rapid loss of neurons localizing in the hippocampal region are observed [3]. As AD progresses, coroner plaques composed of amyloid β-protein are observed in the brain, and the amounts of taucontaining neurofibrillary tangles also increase [4]. Research aimed at understanding the mechanism of development has been actively conducted in various fields, including immunology and statistics [5]. Therefore, treatment methods targeting the disease marker protein, amyloid, and immune cells essential for plaque clearance have been developed [6]. These methods have been introduced as treatment methods and drug candidates, but they have not been approved for clinical application because an appropriate neuroprotective effect, a suitable patient selection method, and a target molecule for AD have not been established [7]. The exact cause of AD is still unknown [7]. The participation of several factors, including mitochondrial abnormalities, protein denaturation and aggregation, and metabolic disturbance, is also considered as causative factors of AD [8]. Moreover, as well as environmental factors, genetic factors related to presenilin 1, APP, and apolipoprotein E are considered as trigger factors for the onset of AD [8]. Because numerous factors are considered to be participating factors in developing AD, understanding the mechanism of onset and development is considered to be the cornerstone for establishing an effective treatment or a diagnosis allowing its detection at the very early stage [9]. Besides, in addition to understanding AD, it is also necessary to establish patient care systems [10]. AD is a degenerative brain disease that leads to steady exacerbation and has a considerably adverse effect on the patient’s medical and nursing needs [11]. Early detection methods and improvements in the patient’s quality of life must be developed to promote early care, and it is essential to develop medical systems that consider dementia care and nursing care together [12].

Overview of Alzheimer’s Disease

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most important diseases in developed countries (Figure 1) [13]. AD is pathologically characterized by progressive and specific degeneration of the central nervous system, which preferentially attacks discrete subsets of cortical and limbic system neurons [13]. It was clearly admitted that amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition, tau-containing neurofibrillary tangles produced by the hyperphosphorylation of tau, and neuronal/ synapse loss lead to the pathophysiology of the disease with varying contributions in distinct disease stages[14]. The current treatment to improve cognitive symptoms is mainly based on acetylcholine, either enhancing acetylcholine levels or reducing the breakdown of acetylcholine [15]. Other drugs enable cognitive and behavioral treatment [16]. Although several disease-modifying drugs that start from newly clarified mechanisms of the disease or refinement of past strategies have been expected to be therapeutic, most have failed in their late-stage trials so far [17]. Accumulated evidence over the last two decades strongly suggests that the oligomeric forms of Aβ, rather than Aβ monomers, are the major toxic diffusible species and the key etiologic culprit of cognitive decline in AD [18]. On the other hand, in tauopathy, tau oligomers and PHF are considered toxic themselves, which also spread the pathology [19]. Physiologically, Aβ peptides, especially Aβ 1-40, are released from plasma membrane neuronal and non-neuronal cells via proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein by secretases [20].