Title:Antioxidant Clinical Trials in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease – Challenges and Perspectives
Volume: 20
Issue: 18
Author(s): Maria Cristina Polidori and Gereon Nelles
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Clinical trial, antioxidant, oxidative stress, free radical, Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment.
Abstract: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder representing the most common form of dementia and
the most feared highly disabling age-related condition of our time. Hallmarks of AD include a dramatically increasing number of cases
due to prospected demographics and the absence of a cure. AD is incurable as it escapes the formula “one disease, one mechanism, one
drug”. AD has a multifaceted pathophysiology only in part uncovered. Even the proven chronological primacy of free radical-related
damage in AD-related neurodegeneration has not yield successful oxidative stress – lowering trial designs. As a consequence, clinical trials
of antioxidants in AD have brought largely negative conclusions. The aims of this review are to discuss 1. rationale for antioxidant
trials, 2. reasons for failure of antioxidants in AD therapy, 3. potential preventive benefits of natural nutrition against AD onset and 4. the
enormous relevance of detecting and treating AD risk factors as long as possible prior to AD manifestation.
