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. 2018 Oct-Dec;12(4):353-359.
doi: 10.1590/1980-57642018dn12-040003.

Focused ultrasound and Alzheimer's disease A systematic review

Rodrigo Marmo da Costa E Souza  1   2 , Inaê Carolline Silveira da Silva  3   2 , Anna Beatriz Temoteo Delgado  4   2 , Pedro Hugo Vieira da Silva  4   2 , Victor Ribeiro Xavier Costa  4   2
Affiliations

Focused ultrasound and Alzheimer's disease A systematic review

Rodrigo Marmo da Costa E Souza et al. Dement Neuropsychol. 2018 Oct-Dec.

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects millions of people, however, there is still no effective treatment. The use of focused ultrasound with microbubbles (FUS-MB) for the opening of the blood-brain barrier has been recently studied and may become a promising therapeutic target.

Objective: To discuss the use of FUS-MB for the treatment of AD and to present some of the techniques used.

Methods: A systematic review was performed of MEDLINE/PubMed and Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) services, using the keywords: focused ultrasound, Alzheimer, amyloid-b. Original articles were included in the study; studies that did not focus on Alzheimer's treatment were excluded.

Results: Fifteen original studies were selected. Preclinical trials were able to reduce amyloid-b plaques and tau phosphorylation, improving cognitive performance in AD animals.

Conclusion: The results are very promising, but the therapy still requires maturation. Further studies are needed to systematize all the techniques used and their effects in order to enable use in humans.

A doença de Alzheimer (DA) afeta milhões de pessoas, porém, ainda não há um tratamento efetivo. O uso de ultrassonografia focalizada com microbolhas (FUS-MB) para a abertura da barreira hematoencefálica (BHE) tem sido objeto de estudos recentes, podendo tornar-se um alvo terapêutico bastante promissor.

Objetivo: Discutir o uso da FUS-MB para o tratamento da DA e apresentar algumas das técnicas utilizadas.

Métodos: Revisão sistemática através dos serviços MEDLINE/PubMed e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), através das seguintes palavras-chaves: focused ultrasound, Alzheimer, amyloid-b. Foram incluídos no estudo artigos originais. Foram excluídos estudos que não tinham o tratamento do Alzheimer como foco.

Resultados: Foram selecionados 15 estudos originais. Os resultados pré-clínicos são positivos para redução de placas amiloides, fosforilação da proteína tau e sobre desempenho cognitivo de animais com DA.

Conclusão: Os resultados são promissores, mas terapia ainda necessita de aperfeiçoamento, necessitando de mais estudos que sistematize todas as técnicas e seus efeitos, para ser possível o seu uso em humanos.

Keywords: Alzheimer´s disease; amyloid-beta peptides; ultrasonic therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Selection of the studies evaluated
Figure 2
Figure 2. Number of pre-clinical studies published by year
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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