Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-associated and neurodegenerative illness which results in progressive dementia and severe cognitive malfunctions. The pathogenesis of AD is affected by some factors such as accumulation of beta-amyloid, aggregation of tau protein, cholinergic insufficiency, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. Factors such as gene mutation, as well as environmental, psychical and other co-existing diseases influence the pathogenesis of AD to varying extents. While there are no available drugs for arresting AD-associated neurodegeneration, the characteristics that result from AD treatment are considered as indexes of symptomatic cure. Several medications with varied scaffolds have been used for the treatment of many cognitive syndromes, including AD. These medications act as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, and as inhibitors of cholinesterase and beta secretase. Moreover, these drugs suppress the accumulation of beta-amyloid and its fibril. This review is an update and compilation of various scaffolds of anti-AD medications used to ameliorate the deleterious effects of the disease, based on their pharmacologic characteristics.