Elsevier

Drug Discovery Today

Volume 1, Issue 2, February 1996, Pages 53-59
Drug Discovery Today

Research focus
Review
New approach to drug therapy in Alzheimer's dementia Alfred Maelicke and Edson X. Albuquerque

https://doi.org/10.1016/1359-6446(96)89089-1Get rights and content

Most current drug therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer's dementia are aimed either at elevation of the transient levels of acetylcholine in the brain or at direct enhancement of nicotinic receptor activation by the application of cholinesterase inhibitors or nicotinic agonists, respectively. One problem of the latter approach is agonist-induced desensitization of nicotinic receptors. An alternative option, which could circumvent this problem, involves a novel class of nicotinic ligands, which potentiate the response of nicotinic receptors to acetylcholine by acting from an allosteric site. The mechanism of action and the structure-function relationship of these potential drugs is discussed.

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