Albers Mark W, Tabert Matthias H, Devanand D P
Department of Neurology, Columbia UniversityCollege of Physicians and Surgeons, 710 West 168th Street,New York, NY 10032, USA.
Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2006 Sep;6(5):379-86. doi: 10.1007/s11910-996-0018-7.
Olfactory dysfunction is present in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or idiopathic Parkinson's disease and can differentiate each of these disorders from related disorders with similar clinical presentations. The pathologic hallmarks of each disease are present in brain regions involved in processing olfactory input. Both the olfactory functional deficits and the corroborating pathologic lesions are present in asymptomatic subjects with increased risk of developing these diseases. Preclinical detection of neurodegenerative diseases is necessary to control their devastating effects on individuals and societies. We address whether olfactory dysfunction can be used to assess risk for developing Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease in asymptomatic individuals. We argue that further characterization and a deeper understanding of olfactory deficits in these neurodegenerative diseases at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels will augment our acumen for preclinical detection and elucidate pathogenic mechanisms to guide the development of new therapeutic modalities.
嗅觉功能障碍存在于被诊断患有阿尔茨海默病或特发性帕金森病的患者中，并且可以将这些疾病中的每一种与具有相似临床表现的相关疾病区分开来。每种疾病的病理特征都存在于参与处理嗅觉输入的脑区中。嗅觉功能缺陷和相应的病理损伤在具有这些疾病发病风险增加的无症状受试者中也存在。神经退行性疾病的临床前检测对于控制其对个人和社会的破坏性影响至关重要。我们探讨嗅觉功能障碍是否可用于评估无症状个体患阿尔茨海默病或帕金森病的风险。我们认为，在分子、细胞和系统水平上对这些神经退行性疾病中的嗅觉缺陷进行进一步的特征描述和更深入的理解，将增强我们对临床前检测的敏锐度，并阐明致病机制以指导新治疗方法的开发。
