Alzheimer Disease/drug therapy* ; Humans

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are common neurodegenerative diseases in human. The pathogenesis of AD and PD is complex, and the current drugs and surgical treatments have not successfully alleviated or terminated the progression of the diseases. The lentiviral vector (LV) is a retroviral vector. In recent years, LV mediated gene therapy has been a hotspot to study the mechanisms of human disease and clinical drug discovery. This review summarizes the recent progresses in the treatment of AD and PD by the application of LV, and offers a prospect for its application.
Alzheimer Disease/therapy* ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Parkinson Disease/therapy*

To discuss the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), we summarized the mechanisms of treating AD animal models by acupuncture from literatures in recent years as follows. Senile dementia rats' cognitive capabilities and memory could be improved by reduction of beta-amyloid protein, attenuation of excessive phosphorylation of tau protein, regulation of center neurotransmitter dysmetabolism, oxidation of anti-free radicals, reduction of neuron apoptosis in the cortex and the hippocampus, inhibition of glial cells' differentiation, adjustment of G protein signaling transduction, and improvement of the mitochondrial dysfunction, thus providing experimental evidence for treating AD by acupuncture.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Alzheimer Disease ; therapy ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal

The clinical and mechanism studies of acupuncture and moxibustion in treatment of dementia from modern literature in recent 15 years are reviewed. In clinical studies, changes of scores for relative dementia scale and daily life scale, relative laboratory indexes, imaging indexes and physical diagnostic indexes after acupuncture are explored. In studies of mechanisms, dementia models are established with different methods and changes of various indexes were observed. Studies find that acupuncture and moxibustion can improve intelligence and social activity ability, increase therapeutic effect and have good effects on important indexes of dementia. However, the criteria for diagnosis, therapeutic effects, syndrome standardization, evaluation of long-term therapeutic effects and prognosis for dementia still need to be further studied.
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Alzheimer Disease ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; Syndrome

Alzheimer Disease ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Humans ; tau Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

During the past 30 years, Alzheimer's disease (AD) drug R&D aiming at a variety of potential targets has undergone tremendous setback although a large amount of resources have been invested by pharmaceutical companies, governments, academic institutions and venture capitals globally. There is no doubt that uneasy early diagnosis, unsatisfying therapeutic strategies and genetic polymorphism of AD patients bringing variety of responses to the drugs contribute to the failure of AD drug therapy, but the most important reason might be that people have insufficient understanding of the very complex diseases including AD. Continuing to make efforts in the previous way to find AD drugs might not be a good way. Development of systems biomedicine opens an avenue to understand the disease networks and pursue multi-target drugs R&D based on systems pharmacology theory; neural stem cell transplantation, and neurogenesis affected by small molecules might bring new hope for AD therapy; discovery of new biomarkers of AD will help the study of the pathogenesis and diagnosis of the disease and finally the discovery of new types of AD drugs.
Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Biomedical Research ; trends ; Humans

Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Sociology

Dementia is a comprehensive category of brain diseases that is great enough to affect a person's daily functioning. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, which makes most of cases. New researches indicate that gastrointestinal tract microbiota are directly linked to dementia pathogenesis through triggering metabolic diseases and low-grade inflammation progress. A novel strategy is proposed for the management of these disorders and as an adjuvant for psychiatric treatment of dementia and other related diseases through modulation of the microbiota (e.g. with the use of probiotics).
Alzheimer Disease ; metabolism ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To explore the acupoint selection rules of acupuncture for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in modern clinical practice by complex network technology. METHODS: The relevant articles of clinical trials were retrieved from CNKI published before December 2017. Using Microsoft Excel 2010, the database was established. Using Gephi 0.8.2 software, the complex network mode was built and its topological structure was analyzed. RESULTS: Finally, 81 articles were eligible and 114 acupoint prescriptions were extracted. The constructed complex network of acupoint prescriptions for AD was characteristics as small world effect and scale-free property, the crucial acupoints included Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Fengchi (GB 20), Yintang (GV 29), Shenmen (HT 7), Shenting (GV 24), Zusanli (ST 36), Fenglong (ST 40) and Taichong (LR 3). In acupoint combination, Baihui (GV 20), Neiguan (PC 6), Shenmen (HT 7) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) were the most common, and the combination of the distal and nearby points was predominant. Using k-core for acupoint optimization, 29 core acupoints were screened and they were mostly located on the governor vessel and the head and neck, with the highest use frequency. 82.76% of acupoints were specific acupoints and the influential points were dominant. Using community structure partition, these acupoints were classified into two groups, i.e. deficiency syndrome and excess syndrome. CONCLUSION The selection of local acupoints is the first choice in acupuncture treatment for AD. The combination of distal and nearby points is the most common and the special points are the core. In clinical practice, the great consideration is provided on mind regulation, integration of disease and symptoms, the mutual treatment of the primary and the secondary as well as the deficiency and the excess.
Acupuncture Points ; Alzheimer Disease ; therapy ; Databases, Factual ; Humans ; Publications

Many recent studies have shown that the gut microbiome plays important roles in human physiology and pathology. Also, microbiome-based therapies have been used to improve health status and treat diseases. In addition, aging and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, have become topics of intense interest in biomedical research. Several researchers have explored the links between these topics to study the potential pathogenic or therapeutic effects of intestinal microbiota in disease. But the exact relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and gut microbiota remains unclear. As technology advances, new techniques for studying the microbiome will be developed and refined, and the relationship between diseases and gut microbiota will be revealed. This article summarizes the known interactions between the gut microbiome and neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting assay techniques for the gut microbiome, and we also discuss the potential therapeutic role of microbiome-based therapies in diseases.
Alzheimer Disease/therapy* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Microbiota ; Neurodegenerative Diseases/therapy* ; Parkinson Disease/therapy*