Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.1.7 (acetylcholinesterase)
 28,390 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The aetiology of Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (AD/SDAT) are unknown, and primary prevention is thus infeasible. As overactivity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (possibly indicating maladaptation to stress) and vitamin B12 deficiency are common, secondary prevention should focus on stress and dietary factors. Nerve growth factors and ganglioside GM1 have been used to inhibit progression of the disorder, but this treatment is still at an experimental stage, as are efforts to prevent the formation of amyloid. Breakthroughs in AD/SDAT treatment have been seen in trials with supplementation of neurotransmitter deficits. Tacrine, a drug that inhibits acetylcholinesterase, has proved to have a cognitive-enhancing effect, but this is limited in time and the drug has side-effects. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have a proven effect on the emotional disturbances seen in AD/SDAT.
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PMID:Therapy options in Alzheimer's disease. 784 98

The recent development of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease has increased interest in the use of biochemical markers for the early detection and diagnosis of dementia, but only the measurement of the protein 14-3-3 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to help diagnose sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has become accepted clinical practice. CSF concentrations of tau protein and beta-amyloid peptide 42 have been widely investigated as potential diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease, but neither has shown sufficient sensitivity and specificity for clinical use. Preliminary investigations suggest that beta-amyloid peptide 42 may be useful in monitoring disease progression, but this needs to be verified. In addition, biochemical investigations may help to identify the small number of patients with treatable causes of dementia such as hypothyroidism and vitamin B12 deficiency, as well as any other compounding condition such as anaemia or diabetes mellitus that increase morbidity.
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PMID:Biochemical investigations in patients with dementia. 1203 95