Hypothesis of Infectious development of Alzheimer's disease

Neurodegenerativne bolesti pripadaju izazovima 21. stoljeća protiv kojih se ljudska populacija bori uslijed trenda porasta životne dobi. Demencija je sindrom karakteriziran progresivnim gubitkom kognitivnih sposobnosti, a Alzheimerova bolest, kao vodeći primjer te grupe poremećaja, jedna je od najčešćih i najtežih oblika demencija. Klinički simptomi mogu nastati u bilo kojoj dobi, ali prvenstveno je to bolest starije populacije. Oboljelima je zajednička klinička slika kroničnog, progresivnog, ireverzibilnog propadanja kognitivne funkcije za koju je terapijski pristup još nepoznat, izuzev onog simptomatskog. Mogući uzroci Alzheimerove bolesti opsežno se istražuju, ali do ovog trenutka bez konačnog rezultata. Zadnjih godina znanstvenici sve više ističu na kronične virusne i bakterijske infekcije kao potencijalne čimbenike rizika neurodegenerativnih poremećaja zbog kojih bi nastali upalni procesi u organizmu mogli izravno potaknuti neurotoksične puteve koji vode do gubitka neurona i sinapsi te nakupljanja amiloidnih plakova i neurofibrilarnih petlji. Ukoliko se patogeni utjecaj mikroorganizama na razvoj Alzheimerove bolesti dokaže valjanim, pravovremenom dijagnostikom u presimptomatskoj fazi bolesti otvaraju se vrata novim terapijskim mogućnostima.As life expectancy is rising, neurodegenerative disorders are becoming one of the most compelling challenges of 21st century. Dementia is a syndrome characterized with progressive loss of cognitive abilities and Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common types of dementia. Clinical symptoms can arise at any age, but more often it is a disease of older population. Affected person has classic clinical presentation of chronic, progressive, irreversible deterioration of cognitive function with still unknown proper therapeutic approach apart from symptomatic. Possible cause of Alzheimer's disease is still unknown, but several hypotheses exist. In recent years the growing number of studies started referring to chronic viral and bacterial infections as potential risk factors of neurodegenerative disorders. Due to inflammatory reactions in organism, they could directly induce neurotoxic pathways and lead towards neuron and synapse loss, as well as accumulation of amyloid plaques and formation of neurofibrillary tangles. If hypothesis of infectious development of Alzheimer's disease proves to be valid, early diagnosis in presymptomatic phase could lead to new therapeutic possibilities