Dysregulated Lipid Metabolism and Neurovascular Unit Dysfunction: Novel Mechanisms Linking Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia - PubMed
5 days ago
- #Alzheimer's Disease
- #Lipid Metabolism
- #Neurovascular Unit
- The neurovascular unit (NVU) is crucial for maintaining cerebral homeostasis and includes various cell types like endothelial cells, pericytes, glial cells, and neurons.
- NVU dysfunction is an early pathological event in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD).
- Dysregulated lipid metabolism plays a key role in NVU impairment, involving factors like lipid droplets, APOE, ATP11B, TREM2, and ABC transporters.
- Disrupted lipid homeostasis leads to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, impaired Aβ clearance, and BBB breakdown, contributing to cognitive decline.
- The review highlights controversies, such as the role of APOE4 in disease, and differences between preclinical models and human diseases.
- Therapeutic strategies targeting lipid metabolism or the BBB face challenges in clinical translation.
- Emerging tools like lipidomics help analyze dysregulated lipid networks and identify new therapeutic targets.