Current perspectives on pharmacotherapy of Alzheimer's disease

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a daunting public health threat that has prompted the scientific community's ongoing efforts to decipher the underlying disease mechanism, and thereafter, target this therapeutically. Although basic research in AD has made remarkable progress over the past two decades, currently available drugs can only improve cognitive symptoms temporarily; no treatment can reverse, stop, or even slow this inexorable neurodegenerative process. Numerous disease-modifying strategies targeting the production and clearance of Aβ, as well as modulation of abnormal aggregation of tau filaments, are currently in clinical trials . AREAS COVERED: this review provides an overview of a wide array of therapeutic approaches under investigation, and the perspectives developed in the last 10 years. EXPERT OPINION: While it is not possible to predict the success of any individual program, one or more are likely to prove effective. Indeed, it seems reasonable to predict that in the not-too-distant future, a synergistic combination of agents will have the capacity to alter the neurodegenerative cascade and reduce the global impact of this devastating disease. The scientific community must acknowledge that Alzheimer's disease is a complex multifactorial disorder, and thus a single target or pathogenic pathway is unlikely to be identified. The major aim should be to design ligands with pluripotent pharmacological activities.