Alzheimer's Disease: A Brief History of Immunotherapies Targeting Amyloid β

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60-70% of cases. Worldwide, around 50 million people suffer from dementia and the prediction is that the number will more than triple by 2050, as the population ages. Extracellular protein aggregation and plaque deposition as well as accumulation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, all leading to neurodegeneration, are the hallmarks of brains with Alzheimer's disease. Therapeutic strategies including active and passive immunizations have been widely explored in the last two decades. Several compounds have shown promising results in many AD animal models. To date, only symptomatic treatments are available and because of the alarming epidemiological data, novel therapeutic strategies to prevent, mitigate, or delay the onset of AD are required. In this mini-review, we focus on our understanding of AD pathobiology and discuss current active and passive immunomodulating therapies targeting amyloid-β protein.