Article

While increasing life expectancy is a major achievement, the global aging of
societies raises a number of medical issues, such as the development of
age-related disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases.
The three main
disease groups constituting the majority of neurodegenerative diseases are
tauopathies, alpha-synucleinopathies and diseases due to repetitions of glutamine
(including Huntington's disease). In each neurodegenerative disease, the
accumulation of one or more aggregated proteins has been identified as the
molecular signature of the disease (as seen, for example, in Alzheimer's disease,
Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and
frontotemporal dementia). The etiology of neurodegenerative diseases is often
multifactorial, and the known risk factors include, in addition to genetic
polymorphisms and age, some other possible causes, such as certain immune and
metabolic conditions, endocrine pathologies, gender, socioeconomic or
professional status, oxidative stress or inflammation, vitamin deficiencies and
environmental factors (chemical exposure, metals). However, innovative strategies
to elaborate suitable diagnostic and therapeutic approaches (aiming to at least
delay or possibly even reverse disease progression) require further knowledge of
the genetic and adaptive immunological characteristics of neurodegenerative diseases.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS