1. Academic Validation
  2. Immune modulation to treat Alzheimer's disease

Immune modulation to treat Alzheimer's disease

  • Mol Neurodegener. 2025 Mar 31;20(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s13024-025-00828-x.
Michael R Duggan 1 David G Morgan 2 Brittani R Price 3 Binita Rajbanshi 4 Alfonso Martin-Peña 5 6 Malú Gámez Tansey 5 6 Keenan A Walker 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
  • 2 Department of Translational Neuroscience, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503, USA.
  • 3 GE Health Care, Marlborough, MA, 01752, USA.
  • 4 Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
  • 5 Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
  • 6 McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
  • 7 Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA. Keenan.walker@nih.gov.
Abstract

Immune mechanisms play a fundamental role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis, suggesting that approaches which target immune cells and immunologically relevant molecules can offer therapeutic opportunities beyond the recently approved amyloid beta monoclonal therapies. In this review, we provide an overview of immunomodulatory therapeutics in development, including their preclinical evidence and clinical trial results. Along with detailing immune processes involved in AD pathogenesis and highlighting how these mechanisms can be therapeutically targeted to modify disease progression, we summarize knowledge gained from previous trials of immune-based interventions, and provide a series of recommendations for the development of future immunomodulatory therapeutics to treat AD.

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