Immunotherapy of Alzheimer disease

Optimism regarding the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer disease has begun to replace the attitude of therapeutic nihilism that clouded the field for so many decades. Neurotransmitter-based therapy with AChEls and NMDA receptor antagonists are now in current use; anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative approaches as well as compounds to block Abeta aggregation are being tested in the clinic; beta- and gamma-secretase inhibitors designed to reduce generation of Abeta peptides are under development. One of the more provocative developments in this field was the idea of vaccination against beta-amyloid. Despite vivid antagonism that was rapidly voiced by many concerned experts, there are actually several excellent reasons why brain beta-amyloid plaques are attractive immunotherapeutic targets for the treatment and prevention of AD.