Monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: a literature review

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, whose treatment is limited to drugs that offer comfort to the patient. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has been the subject of a study with the promise of reversing cognitive deficits. In this scenario, we conducted a systematic review to elucidate aspects about the effectiveness of such treatment. Objectives: Analyze the prognostic of patients with AD through immunotherapy using anti-amilody mAbs. Methods: It was used the PubMed database using the descriptors: “Amyloid beta-Peptides AND Alzheimer disease AND Immunotherapy”. Filters: clinical trial, randomized controlled trial. 6 articles from 2015 to 2021 were selected. Inclusion criteria: (1) mAbs as treatment for AD; (2) Analyze the prognostic. Results: The immunotherapy with bapineuzumab and solanezumab didn’t showed no statistically significant difference between the groups of bapineuzumab 0,5 mg / kg (p = 0,979) and placebo (p = 0,973) and a change of 6.65 in the solanezumab group and 7.44 in the placebo group (difference, −0.80; P = 0 , 10). However, subcutaneous treatment of bapineuzumab exhibited fewer abnormalities of images related to amyloid with edema or effusion (AIRA), so, better tolerated compared to intravenous treatment. In the study with the ABvac40 vaccine, about 92% of the individuals in the test group developed specific anti-Aβ 40 antibodies. Conclusion: Bapineuzumab and solanezumab didn’t achieve significant results in the reduction of cognitive decline, however bapineuzumab enabled the prevention of Aβ aggregation. However, the use of mAbs can trigger collateral effects, requiring an individual analysis.