Forschungszentrum Julich, ICS-6, D-52425 Julich, Germany.
Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(6):755-67. doi: 10.2174/138161212799277752.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with devastating effects. The greatest risk factor to develop AD is age. Today, only symptomatic therapies are available. Additionally, AD can be diagnosed with certainty only post mortem, whereas the diagnosis "probable AD" can be established earliest when severe clinical symptoms appear. Specific neuropathological changes like neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques define AD. Amyloid plaques are mainly composed of the amyloid-βpeptide (Aβ). Several lines of evidence suggest that the progressive concentration and subsequent aggregation and accumulation of Aβ play a fundamental role in the disease progress. Therefore, substances which bind to Aβ and influence aggregation thereof are of great interest. An enormous number of organic substances for therapeutic purposes are described. This review focuses on peptides developed for diagnosis and therapy of AD and discusses the pre- and disadvantages of peptide drugs.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是一种进行性神经退行性疾病，具有破坏性影响。发生 AD 的最大危险因素是年龄。如今，只有对症治疗方法可用。此外，AD 只能在死后才能确定诊断，而只有当出现严重的临床症状时，才能最早确定“可能的 AD”诊断。神经原纤维缠结和淀粉样斑块等特定的神经病理学变化定义了 AD。淀粉样斑块主要由淀粉样-β肽（Aβ）组成。有几条证据表明，Aβ 的浓度逐渐增加，随后聚集和积累，在疾病进展中起基础性作用。因此，与 Aβ结合并影响其聚集的物质具有重要意义。有大量用于治疗目的的有机物质被描述。这篇综述专注于为 AD 的诊断和治疗而开发的肽，并讨论了肽类药物的优缺点。
