Valproic acid as a promising agent to combat Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most threatening diseases to the elderly population at present. However, there is no yet efficient therapeutic method to AD. Recently, accumulating evidence indicates that valproic acid (VPA), a widely used mood stabilizer and antiepileptic drug, has neuroprotective potential relevant to AD. Moreover, VPA can induce neurogenesis of neural progenitor/stem cells both in vitro and in vivo via multiple signaling pathways. Therefore, it is suggested that VPA is a promising agent to combat AD. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.