Progress of clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease drugs

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease. The pathogenesis of AD is unclear, and it is presently incurable. Medicines currently available for AD treatment are only for improving the cognitive symptoms, but not able to stop or delay disease progression. Here, we summarized the interventions in early phases of AD in clinical trial. As a complex disease, AD is difficult to be restored through a treatment on a single target. Multi-target and cocktail drugs might be a strategy for development of AD therapies. In addition, AD is characterized by progressive neuronal loss in the cortex and hippocampus. The induction of neurogenesis by small molecule compounds has drawn attention in the AD field. The study of natural products in China is leading the way in the AD world. Numerous natural products have been identified for pharmacological effects on multi-targets in the regulation of neurogenic activity, which may open up a new avenue for AD treatments.