多巴胺系统对阿尔茨海默病患者认知功能影响的研究进展

The influence of the dopamine system on the cognitive function of patients with Alzheimer's disease

阿尔茨海默病(AD)是一种神经退行性疾病,通常以进行性的认知功能减退和记忆障碍为特征,其病理过程极为复杂,且不可逆转。目前已经提出的相关机制包括:氧化应激、Aβ蛋白的异常堆积、细胞内神经纤维缠结的形成、金属诱导的神经毒性、基因突变、神经炎症反应、tau蛋白的异常磷酸化以及凋亡等。但直到目前为止,上述学说均无法圆满地解释AD的发病机制。而最近的研究发现,多巴胺系统与AD患者的认知功能密切相关,并可以预测快速发展型的AD。其涉及的可能机制包括有多巴胺可以影响睡眠周期、调节大脑皮质的兴奋性、影响情绪等。因此,多巴胺学说的提出,或许能为AD的研究带来曙光。本文就多巴胺系统对阿尔茨海默病患者认知功能的影响做一综述,以便详细地探讨多巴胺对认知作用的可能机制。

Alzheimer＇s disease （AD） is a neurodegenerative disease, usually characterized by cognitive dysfunction and memory disorders, and its pathological process is extremely complex as well as irreversible. At present, many mechanisms have been proposed, such as the oxidative stress, abnormal accumulation of AI3 protein, the formation of neurofibrillary tangles of the intracellular, neurotoxicity, gene mutation, nerve inflammation, tau protein phosphorylation, apoptosis and so on. However, up to now, these theories are still unable to explain the pathogenesis of AD satisfactorily. But a recent study has found that the dopamine system is closely related to the cognitive function in AD patients, what is more, it can well predict the type of the rapid development of AD. And the possible mechanism will involve that doparnine can affect the sleep cycle, regulate the excitability of the cerebral cortex, and have an influence on the moods. Therefore, the proposed of the dopamine theory, might be able to bring the dawn to the AD research. This paper focused on the impact of the dopamine system on cognitive function in patients with AD, and gave a detailed discuss about the possible mechanisms.