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. 2010 Jun 3:2:22.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2010.00022. eCollection 2010.

Microglial activation and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease: a critical examination of recent history

Wolfgang J Streit  1
Affiliations

Microglial activation and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease: a critical examination of recent history

Wolfgang J Streit. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

The neurofibrillary degeneration that occurs in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is thought to be the result of a chronic and damaging neuroinflammatory response mediated by neurotoxic substances produced by activated microglial cells. This neuroinflammation hypothesis of AD pathogenesis has led to numerous clinical trials with anti-inflammatory drugs, none of which have shown clear benefits for slowing or preventing disease onset and progression. In this paper, I make the point that AD is not an inflammatory condition, and reconstruct the sequence of events during the 1980s and 1990s that I believe led to the development of this faulty theory.

Keywords: aging; amyloid; chronic inflammation; cytokines; major histocompatibility complex antigens.

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