Globally, Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common neurological
disorder that affects the older population. However, the intricacy of AD
pathophysiology causes disparities in our knowledge of the disease and could be the
primary cause of the medication development failure for AD. Thankfully, several
preclinical and clinical research projects are still in progress, which will continue to
pave the way for the discovery of disease processes and direct approaches to AD
diagnosis and medication development. For instance, because of the exceptional
preclinical outcomes, immunotherapeutic approaches targeting the tau and amyloid-β
(Aβ) proteins were originally thought to be almost successful in clinical treatment. This
strategy has been called into question due to the numerous failures in clinical studies
involving vaccinations and humanized anti-tau monoclonal, anti-Aβ antibodies.
However, immunotherapy targeting Aβ may still have potential, as evidenced by the
United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) recent endorsement of
Aducanumab, a novel anti-Aβ monoclonal antibody. Immunotherapies targeting
various targets, including microglia, tau, and the gut-brain axis, are also being
developed in the meantime. To improve the accuracy and efficacy of
immunotherapeutic treatments, more inspection is required to clarify the targeted
proteins' structures and epitopes. In this review, we concentrate on the mechanisms of
action of immunotherapies focused on microglia, tau, and Aβ in AD. We also discuss
current developments and prospects for immunotherapeutic approaches to AD.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Antibody, Drug development, Immunotherapy, Vaccine.
