Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that is
primary characterized as a cognitive disorder. Its pathology is characterized by
the formation of senile plaques in the brain from amyloid-beta
(A)
aggregation, neuronal fibrillary tangles from hyperphosphorylated tau protein
aggregation, prolonged inflammatory responses, and neuronal death. The
pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of AD are complex, but aging is
generally accepted as one of the most important contributing factors. In
addition, there are several hypotheses, including the A hypothesis based
on amyloid plaques, the tau hypothesis based on neuronal fiber entanglement, the
inflammation hypothesis based on long-term inflammatory responses causing brain
damage, and the neuroprotection hypothesis based on synaptic dysfunction and
neuronal death. Although the pathogenesis of AD has been broadly classified into
four major hypotheses, there are multiple forms of interactions, which is one of
the reasons for its complex pathogenesis. Numerous epidemiological studies have
shown the important role of genes in AD, followed by brain damage,
hyperlipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and
obesity as risk factors for the disease. Despite years of research, several
mysteries in AD remain unsolved. Drugs based on various pathogenetic hypotheses
are being investigated in large numbers, but the effects are unsatisfactory. In
recent years, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has made excellent progress and
is expected to provide a new possibility for AD treatment. In this review,
we focus on the latest developments in
studies on the risk factors—A aggregates and related factors such as
apolipoprotein E, synaptic loss, and fatty acids, and then present the progress
in the research of TCM based on the above pathogenesis, intended to provide a
research reference and treatment for AD.