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
. 2025 Jan 1:1846:149262.
doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.149262. Epub 2024 Oct 5.

A multifactorial lens on risk factors promoting the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Affiliations
Review

A multifactorial lens on risk factors promoting the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Jenna Parker et al. Brain Res. .

Abstract

The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) among adults has continued to increase over the last two decades, which has sparked a significant increase in research that focuses on the topic of "brain health." While AD is partially determined by a genetic predisposition, there are still numerous pathophysiological factors that require further research. This research requirement stems from the acknowledgment that AD is a multifactorial disease that to date, cannot be prevented. Therefore, addressing and understanding the potential AD risk factors is necessary to increase the quality of life of an aging population. To raise awareness of critical pathways that impact AD progression, this review manuscript describes AD etiologies, structural impairments, and biomolecular changes that can significantly increase the risk of AD. Among them, a special highlight is given to inflammasomes, which have been shown to bolster neuroinflammation. Alike, the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, an essential neuropeptide that promotes the preservation of cognition is presented. In addition, the functional role of neurovascular units to regulate brain health is highlighted and contrasted to inflammatory conditions, such as cellular senescence, vascular damage, and increased visceral adiposity, who all increase the risk of neuroinflammation. Altogether, a multifactorial interventional approach is warranted to reduce the risk of AD.

Keywords: BDNF; Dementia; Lifestyle; Neuroinflammation; Neurovascular unit.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Substances

LinkOut - more resources