Pyroptosis as a candidate therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s disease

Pyroptosis is a form of cell death mediated by inflammasomes and gasdermins, and the relevance of pyroptosis to neurodegenerative diseases is currently receiving increasing attention. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease that is closely associated with neuroinflammation. Its main pathological features include β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition, Tau protein hyperphosphorylation and neuronal loss. Aβ, tau-induced microglia pyroptosis and polarization leading to neuroinflammation play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. Studying the pathogenesis and treatment of AD based on cellular pyroptosis has become a new direction in AD research. In this paper, we review the research progress of pyroptosis and will focus on the pathogenic roles of pyroptosis in AD and the role of targeted inhibition of inflammasome-dependent pyroptosis in AD treatment. These results deepen our understanding of the pathogenesis of AD and provide ideas for the development of new drugs based on the regulation of pyroptosis in AD patients.