Monoamine oxidase-B inhibition in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in late life. There is still no clear-cut consensus whether this disease involves genetic or environmental factors or both. There is a great need to find a way to delay the disease, as delaying the onset of the disease will bring a great relieve on social and medical resources. The monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) inhibitors were shown to be effective in treating Parkinson's disease and possibly AD, with concomitant extension of life span. This article gives a short review on MAO-B inhibitors and their mechanism for neuroprotective effects in AD. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.