Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Biographical note on F. H. Lewy
- Abbreviations
- Group photograph
- Introduction
- Part one Clinical issues
- Part two Pathological issues
- Part three Treatment issues
- 28 Psychopharmacology of cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease
- 29 Management of the noncognitive symptoms of Lewy body dementia
- 30 Altered consciousness and transmitter signalling in Lewy body dementia
- 31 Cholinergic therapy and Lewy body dementia
- 32 Clinical heterogeneity in dementia: responders to cholinergic therapy
- 33 Tacrine and symptomatic treatment in Lewy body dementia
- 34 Neurochemical correlates of pathological and iatrogenic extrapyramidal symptoms
- 35 Neurotrophins and the cholinergic system in dementia
- 36 Relevance of Lewy bodies to alterations in oxidative stress in Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease
- Résumé of treatment workshop sessions
- Appendices
- Index
- Plate section
35 - Neurotrophins and the cholinergic system in dementia
from Part three - Treatment issues
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Biographical note on F. H. Lewy
- Abbreviations
- Group photograph
- Introduction
- Part one Clinical issues
- Part two Pathological issues
- Part three Treatment issues
- 28 Psychopharmacology of cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease
- 29 Management of the noncognitive symptoms of Lewy body dementia
- 30 Altered consciousness and transmitter signalling in Lewy body dementia
- 31 Cholinergic therapy and Lewy body dementia
- 32 Clinical heterogeneity in dementia: responders to cholinergic therapy
- 33 Tacrine and symptomatic treatment in Lewy body dementia
- 34 Neurochemical correlates of pathological and iatrogenic extrapyramidal symptoms
- 35 Neurotrophins and the cholinergic system in dementia
- 36 Relevance of Lewy bodies to alterations in oxidative stress in Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease
- Résumé of treatment workshop sessions
- Appendices
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Summary
There is considerable evidence to support a role for neurotrophins as a strategy for treating chronic neurodegenerative conditions causing dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease and probably others including senile dementia of Lewy body type. In particular, a wealth of animal and tissue culture research points to the potential of nerve growth factor (NGF) as a means of supporting subcortical cholinergic cells, thereby retarding the disease process. Very early pilot work in human subjects has already been undertaken and attempts are under way to try and improve the drug delivery systems needed to allow such peptides to enter the brain and reach their predominantly subcortical targets. If successful, this approach would have a wider application to a number of neurodegenerative disorders, not necessarily confined to cholinergic cell systems.
Introduction
The concept of neurotrophic support for developing neurons was first suggested in the 1950s when Levi-Montalcini described the effect of transplanted mouse sarcoma tissue on the developing sensory and sympathetic nervous system of chick embryos. (This is reviewed by Levi-Montalcini, 1987.) Work in this field has moved on rapidly, especially in the last five years, and now much is known about a whole family of neurotrophic molecules and also their receptor systems in both normal development and disease. It is clear that members of this family can act in a neuroprotective role in the central as well as the peripheral nervous system. NGF and its receptors are the neurotrophin system most explored, especially in relation to Alzheimer's disease (AD), as far as dementia is concerned.
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- Dementia with Lewy BodiesClinical, Pathological, and Treatment Issues, pp. 468 - 476Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996
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