Page 42 - IMO-2-2

Innovative Medicines & Omics

REVIEW ARTICLE
Neuroinflammation and progress in clinical trials

for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and
related dementias: An update

1
2
Asem Surindro Singh * , Afsar Raza Naqvi , and Machathoibi Takhellambam
Chanu *
3
1 Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
2 Department of Periodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois,
United States of America
3 Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Manipur University, Imphal, Manipur, India
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Alzheimer Disease and Other Forms of Dementias - Current
Research Progress and Drug Development)

Abstract

According to the latest report in 2024 by the World Health Organization, based on
global data from 2021, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other forms of dementia rank
seventh among the leading causes of death worldwide, with an estimated 1.8 million
deaths. This alarming number underscores the urgent requirement for effective
*Corresponding authors: treatments. AD and other dementias also severely affect the global economy.
Asem Surindro Singh Unfortunately, no cure has been found, and effective treatments remain limited.
(singh5as@ucmail.uc.edu) Over the past two decades, thousands of disease-modifying drugs have been
Machathoibi Takhellambam Chanu
(machathoibichanuASTM@ developed for AD treatment. However, most have failed to progress beyond phase I
manipuruniv.ac.edu); clinical trials, with only a few reaching phase III. To date, lecanemab (sold under the
Citation: Singh AS, Naqvi AR, brand name Leqembi) is the only drug to receive full approval from the United States
Chanu MT. Neuroinflammation and Food and Drug Administration for slowing AD progression. This drug is specifically
progress in clinical trials for the designed to target and clear amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques. Apart from targeting Aβ
treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
and related dementias: An update. aggregation and tau tangles, neuroinflammatory regulatory pathways have emerged
Innov Med Omics. 2025;2(2):36-50. as promising therapeutic targets. With advancing research, neuroinflammation
doi: 10.36922/IMO025050007 has been considered one of the core characteristics of AD and the third major
Received: January 27, 2025 pathological hallmark of the disease after Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles.
Revised: February 24, 2025 In this review, we summarize key research findings in neuroinflammatory regulation
Accepted: March 10, 2025 of AD and related dementias that are promising for treatments. We also provide
Published online: March 28, 2025 an overview of clinical trials targeting the immune system or neuroinflammatory
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). regulatory pathways, analyzing their challenges and potential successes.
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias; Immune system dysregulation;
License, permitting distribution, Neuroinflammation; Amyloid-beta plaques; Tau tangles; Clinical trials
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and it is the
affiliations. most common cause of dementia, with 60 – 80% of cases occurring among elderly

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 36 doi: 10.36922/IMO025050007