Stratégies thérapeutiques et maladie d'Alzheimer : que peuvent apporter les modèles animaux ?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a human neurodegenerative disease characterized by two key histopathological hallmarks : ß amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. No animal species naturally develops AD. Lesions induced by toxic substances which modify neurotransmission have been used in rodents but are not suitable models for AD. More recently, transgenic mouse models reproducing physiopathologic aspects of AD have greatly contributed to our understanding of the disease and have provided models to evaluate new therapeutic approaches. While none of these models perfectly reproduces all the pathological characteristics of AD, they are extremely useful in the evaluation and development of novel therapeutic agents. Pharmacological evaluation should assess abnormal behavior, histopathologic lesions and biochemical or metabolic dysfunctions. New technologic tools such as neuroimaging and biological biomarkers have greatly facilitated these evaluations. Depending on the symptomatic or neuroprotective therapeutic objectives, these methods are becoming increasingly accurate and adaptable to the human patient. A multidisciplinary approach is going to optimize these models so that they can become more predictive and help bring forward new effective treatments for AD patients.