AMPK: Potential Therapeutic Target for Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder. The pathogenesis of AD is very complicated. For decades, the amyloid hypothesis has influenced and guided research in the field of AD. Meanwhile, researchers gradually realized that AD is caused by multiple concomitant factors, such as autophagy, mitochondrial quality control, insulin resistance and oxidative stress. In current clinical trials, the improvement strategies of AD, such as Aβ antibody immunotherapy and gamma secretase inhibitors, are limited. There is mounting evidence of neurodegenerative disorders indicated that activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) may have broad neuroprotective effects. We reviewed the researches on AMPK for AD, the results demonstrated that activation of AMPK is controversial in Aβ deposition and tau phosphorylation, but is positive to promote autophagy, maintain mitochondrial quality control, reduce insulin resistance and relieve oxidative stress. It is concluded that AMPK might be a new target for AD by aggressively treating the risk factors in the future.