Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018;64(s1):S23-S31.
doi: 10.3233/JAD-179924.

Targeting Alzheimer's Disease at the Right Time and the Right Place: Validation of a Personalized Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment

Serge Gauthier  1 , Kok Pin Ng  2 , Tharick A Pascoal  1 , Hua Zhang  3 , Pedro Rosa-Neto  1
Affiliations
Review

Targeting Alzheimer's Disease at the Right Time and the Right Place: Validation of a Personalized Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment

Serge Gauthier et al. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018.

Abstract

Cautious optimism is appropriate for a near future (five years) time frame for a number of drugs acting on the different pathophysiological components of Alzheimer's disease (amyloid deposition, tau hyperphosphorylation, neuroinflammation, vascular changes, to name the most important known so far). Since the relative weight of these components will be different between individuals and will even change over time for each individual, a 'one drug fit for all' approach is no longer defensible. Precision medicine using biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease is the new strategy.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; biomarkers; brain imaging; database analysis; diagnosis; human volunteer cohorts; precision medicine; translational research; treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig.1
Fig.1
Brain regions vulnerable to the synergy between Aβ and tau in cognitively normal persons. The parametric map, overlaid in a structural MRI, revealed regions where 2-year [18F]FDG metabolic decline was associated with the synergistic effect between Aβ and tau in cognitively normal elderly individuals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. (2017) Drugs for cognitive loss and dementia. Med Lett Drugs Ther 59, 155–161. - PubMed
    1. Sevigny J, Chiao P, Bussière T, Weinreb PH, Williams L, Maier M, Dunstan R, Salloway S, Chen T, Ling Y, O’Gorman J, Qian F, Arastu M, Li M, Chollate S, Brennan MS, Quitero-Monzon O, Scannevin RH, Arnold M, Engber T, Rhodes K, Ferrero J, Hang Y, Mikulskis A, Grimm J, Hock C, Nitsch RM, Sandrock A (2016) The antibody aducanumab reduces Aβ plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. Nature 537, 50–56. - PubMed
    1. Gauthier S, Feldman HH, Schneider LS, Wilcock GK, Frisoni GB, Hardlund JH, Bentham P, Kook KA, Wischik DJ, Schelter BO, Davis CS, Staff RT, Bracoud L, Shamsi K, Storey JM, Harrington CR, Wischik C (2016) Safety and efficacy of tau aggregation inhibitor therapy in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: A Phase 3 trial of leuco-methylthioninium bis(hydromethanesulfonate) (LMTM). Lancet 388, 2873–2884. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Novak P, Schmidt R, Kontsekova E, Zikla N, Kovacech B, Skrabana R, Vince-Kazmerova Z, Katina S, Fialove L, Prcina M, Parrak V, Dal-Bianco P, Brunner M, Staffen W, Rainer M, Ondrus M, Ropele S, Smisek M, Sivak R, Winblad B, Novak M (2017) The first-in-man tau vaccine for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease “AADvac1” displays a favourable safety and tolerability profile and high immunogenicity: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled Phase I study. Lancet Neurol 16, 123–134. - PubMed
    1. Dai CL, Tung YC, Liu F, Gong CX, Iqbal K (2017) Tau passive immunization inhibits not only tau but also Aß pathology. Alzheimers Res Ther 9, 1. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Grants and funding