阿尔茨海默病的生物标记物研究进展

Research progress on biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease

阿尔茨海默病(AD)是最常见的神经变性疾病之一,全球约3500万人患病,预计至2050年其发病率将增加3倍。AD是一种与年龄相关的疾病,其特征是记忆和认知能力进行性下降,伴不可逆的神经变性和脑萎缩,目前还无有效的治疗方法。几十年前发现与神经纤维缠结有关的tau蛋白和与斑块有关的β淀粉样蛋白,在AD的诊断领域取得长足的进步,但对引发AD症状的分子机制特定生物标志物尚无确切认识,因此迫切需要在早期症状出现前发现有用的生物标志物和开发新的治疗靶点,以确保提高患者的生活质量。目前世界各地的研究人员正在不同的体液,如血浆、血清和脑脊液中识别AD的特异性生物标志物,并作出了不懈的努力。本文就有关AD病理机制和生物标志物的发现做一综述。

Alzheimer’s disease(AD)is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative diseases,more than 35 million people in the world,and its incidence is estimated to triple by 2050.AD is an age-related disease characterized by the progressive decline in memory and cognitive function,accompanied by irreversible neurodegeneration and brain atrophy.There is no effective treatment for AD.The discovery of tau protein associated with neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid beta(Aβ)protein associated with plaques decades ago has made great progress in the diagnosis of AD,however,there is no definite understanding of the specific biomarkers of the molecular mechanism leading to AD symptoms.Therefore,it is urgent to find useful biomarkers and develop new therapeutic targets before early symptoms appear,so as to improve the quality of life of patients.Researchers from all over the world are looking for biomarkers that can be identified in different biological fluids such as plasma,serum,and cerebrospinal fluid,specific for AD.In this article,we will review the interesting findings about the pathological mechanism and biomarkers of AD.