小胶质细胞在阿尔茨海默病中的作用及潜在的应用价值

Role and potential application of microglia in Alzheimer disease

阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer disease,AD)是神经退行性疾病的一种。全世界的痴呆症患者数约为5 000万,每年新增的痴呆症人数约为1 000万,AD是痴呆症中患病率最高的疾病,AD患者占痴呆症患者的60%~80%^([1])。AD的发病机制目前尚不明确,其病理特征主要为脑内β-淀粉样蛋白(amyloid β-protein,Aβ)聚集成的淀粉样斑块沉积和τ蛋白(tau protein)过度磷酸化产生的神经纤维缠结(neurofibrillary tangles,NFTs)。

Alzheimer disease(AD)is a neurodegenerative disorder with memory loss and cognitive dysfunc‐tion.The incidence rate of AD increases dramatically and there is no effective cure.Microglia are intrinsic immune cells in the central nervous system,which play important roles in AD progression via phagocytosis and induction of chronic in‐flammation and neuroexcitotoxicity.In the brain,most risk genes of AD are highly expressed in microglia.The treatment of AD has been one of the hotspots of research because the pathogenesis of AD has not been clarified,and the application value of microglia in the treatment of AD is not clear.This paper reviews the role of microglia in the AD process and its mechanisms and the therapeutic options using microglia as potential targets,with the aim of providing new ideas for the pathogenesis and clinical treatment of AD.