Preface

The book series, “Frontiers in Clinical Drug Research – Alzheimer Disorders”, is intended to present the important advancements in the field in the form of cutting edge reviews written by experts. Volume 6 of this eBook series is a compilation of seven well written chapters contributed by prominent researchers in the field. It includes the treatment of brain inflammation, stem cell strategies, retinal neurodegeneration, pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease, and a number of other related areas.

Chapter 1 by Adams discusses the use of plant medicines as an alternative treatment to decrease the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In chapter 2, Haigang Gu describes the recent progress of stem cell strategies for AD modeling and therapy. Cordeiro et al. in chapter 3 focus on the retinal neurodegeneration in AD. The pathological similarities between AD and eye diseases are also discussed. In Chapter 4, Gupta & Jhawat highlight the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease with respect to the current drug therapy.

In chapter 5, Abdelhamid and Wu present the use of biological mass spectrometry for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. This review also highlights the recent developments in disease diagnosis using mass spectrometry. Chapter 6 by Herrera emphasizes the structure-activity relationship of melanin as a source of energy. The last chapter by Suzuki et al., discusses the neuro-protective properties of the fungus Isaria japonica (IJ). The results showed that products derived from IJ may prevent or decrease the impact of dementia, especially AD.

The 6^th volume of this book series represents the results of a huge amount of work by many eminent researchers. I am grateful to the authors for their excellent contributions. I would also like to express my gratitude to the editorial staff of Bentham Science Publishers, particularly Mr. Mahmood Alam (Director Publication), Mr. Shehzad Naqvi (Senior Manager Publications) and Ms. Fariya Zulfiqar (Assistant Manager Publications) for their hard work and persistent efforts.