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Update on Alzheimer's Disease Therapy and Prevention Strategies
Graham WV, Bonito-Oliva A, Sakmar TP.. Annual review of medicine, 2017-01-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the primary cause of age-related dementia. Effective strategies to prevent and treat AD remain elusive despite major efforts to understand its basic biology and clinical pathophysiology. Significant investments in therapeutic drug discovery programs over the past two decades have yielded some important insights but no blockbuster drugs to alter the course of disease. Because significant memory loss and cognitive decline are associated with neuron death and loss of gray matter, especially in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, some focus in drug development has shifted to early prevention of cellular pathology. Although clinical trial design is challenging, due in part to a lack of robust biomarkers with predictive value, some optimism has come from the identification and study of inherited forms of early-onset AD and genetic risk factors that provide insights about molecular pathophysiology and potential drug targets. In addition, better understanding of the Aβ amyloid pathway and the tau pathway-leading to amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, respectively, which are histopathological hallmarks of AD-continues to drive significant drug research and development programs. The main focus of this review is to summarize the most recent basic biology, biochemistry, and pharmacology that serve as a foundation for more than 50 active advanced-phase clinical trials for AD prevention and therapy.
Key findings
- Significant investments in therapeutic drug discovery programs over the past two decades have yielded some important insights but no blockbuster drugs to alter the course of disease.
- Because significant memory loss and cognitive decline are associated with neuron death and loss of gray matter, especially in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, some focus in drug development has shifted to early prevention of cellular pathology.
- In addition, better understanding of the Aβ amyloid pathway and the tau pathway-leading to amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, respectively, which are histopathological hallmarks of AD-continues to drive significant drug research and development programs.
Why it matters
This review states that despite two decades of investment, no drugs have been shown to alter the course of Alzheimer's disease, and that some drug development has shifted toward early prevention of cellular pathology. It summarizes ongoing research into the amyloid and tau pathways rather than reporting a proven treatment.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Prevention →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Annual review of medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Annual Review of Medicine: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 507 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 46.1 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 11 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 91 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Thomas P. Sakmar: h-index 72 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Karolinska Institutet: institution h-index 1,477 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28099083) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Graham, W. V., Bonito-Oliva, A., & Sakmar, T. P. (2017). Update on Alzheimer's Disease Therapy and Prevention Strategies. Annual review of medicine. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-med-042915-103753
Vancouver
Graham WV, Bonito-Oliva A, Sakmar TP. Update on Alzheimer's Disease Therapy and Prevention Strategies. Annual review of medicine. 2017. doi:10.1146/annurev-med-042915-103753. PMID: 28099083.
BibTeX
@article{graham2017-28099083,
author = {Graham, W. V. and Bonito-Oliva, A. and Sakmar, T. P.},
title = {{Update on Alzheimer's Disease Therapy and Prevention Strategies}},
journal = {Annual review of medicine},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1146/annurev-med-042915-103753},
pmid = {28099083},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-med-042915-103753}
}
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