Comparative Analysis of Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is gradually losing the cognitive ability and memory functions necessary to meet the challenges of daily life and causes severe disability in affected individuals. It has been known that with a close study of potential environmental and lifestyle risk factors for Alzheimer's, the specific modifiable risk factors of Alzheimer's can be obtained. Exposure to air pollution and heavy metal toxicity leads to oxidative stress and inflammation, which further promotes neuronal damage. In these lifestyle factors, problems in terms of sedentary lifestyle, inappropriate diet, chronic stress might disturb cellular metabolism, in addition to promoting amyloid-beta deposition. Social isolation and disturbances in sleep exacerbate the decline in cognitive function. It links psychosocial factors to the pathogenesis of this disease. Elucidation of these influences may enhance the preventive strategies and identify the potential intervention points along with biomarker-based diagnostics toward more effective management of Alzheimer's disease. As the number one cause of dementia in the world it way affects millions of people all over the world. The disease is marked by the presence of amyloid-beta plaques and tau protein tangles in the brain that disrupts normal processes and leads to nerve cell death. Alzheimer’s disease is the outcome of genetic susceptibility coupled with environmental factors and life style. The major genes linked with this ailment include the APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2 genes and any APOE ε4 allele. There are more recent risk variants that have been reported recently. The vast majority of the known risk variants for AD are connected to the established functions of APP, PSEN1, and APOE ε4; however, there is evidence that recent discoveries of risk variants in other genes, such as the TREM2 gene influencing immune response and amyloid processing, or BIN1, linked to tau pathology, are evidence of new areas of influence. Epigenetic mechanisms from DNA methylation to histone modification and non-coding RNAs are rapidly emerging areas of research that point out how factors of environment and lifestyle can influence gene expression without changing the sequence of the DNA. Thus, these findings suggest critical interactions between genes and their environment, which might eventually lead to novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. This disease starts with minimal signs of neurocognitive dysfunction and maybe followed by severe dementia. At the time of writing this paper there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Hence, the management plans for AD mainly focus on reducing the signs and the progression of the disease by using medication and palliative care. New developments in management of Alzheimer's include new pharmacological interventions, like aducanumab, which are anti-amyloid antibodies that aim to reduce amyloid plaques, and non-pharmacological interventions: cognitive stimulation therapy or music therapy, which has proven to enhance quality of life. Lifestyle interventions related to diet and exercises are part of the care plan for the patient themselves to complement medical treatments and better a patient's well-being. Current developments associated with discovery of new and more specific biomarkers, imaging techniques, in addition to expanded knowledge on the disease pathology signify hope for the early detection of this disease and increased accuracy in treatment plans. Resume of the current knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease is also offered and the need for further investigations on aetiology factors, diagnostic technique and treatment strategies for improved management of the disorder is also stressed.