Unique Properties of Synaptosomes and Prospects for Their Use for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases (Review)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disease that affects millions of people around the world. The increasing prevalence of AD correlates with increasing life expectancy and aging populations in developed countries. Since AD is a multifactorial disease and includes various pathological processes, such as: synaptic dysfunction, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, protein misfolding, etc., an integrated approach aimed simultaneously at several targets may be effective and slow down the progression of the disease. Cell therapy and its further development in the form of transplantation of cellular vesicles and especially mitochondria are a very promising approach for the treatment of neurodegeneration. The use of synaptosomes, due to the uniqueness of their content, may become a new stage in the development of complex therapy for neurodegenerative diseases and AD in particular. This review discusses the preparation and composition of synaptosomes, as well as the possibilities and advantages of their use as transporters for the delivery of synaptic mitochondria and other biologically active substances to the brain.