Endothelial Facilitation in Neurodegerative Diseases by Cerebral Blood Flow Enhancement

摘要

The “amyloid hypothesis” has dominated Alzheimer research for more than 20 years, and proposes that amyloid is the toxic cause of neural/synaptic damage and dementia. Despite discrepancies in the proposed mechanism, and failed clinical trials, amyloid continues to be considered the cause of a degenerative cascade. The present invention proposes that AD is precipitated by impaired microvascular function, resulting primarily from decreased Notch-related angiogenesis. With impaired microvasculature, a lack of vascular endothelial-derived trophic factors and decreased cerebral blood flow cause the atrophy of neural structures. Therapeutic strategies are proposed that focus on supporting normal angiogenesis.