The role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular lesions in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and stroke are two leading causes of age-associate d dementia. A rapidly growing body of evidence Indicates that increased oxi dative stress from reactive oxygen radicals is associated with the aging pr ocess and age-related degenerative disorders such as atherosclerosis, Ische mia/reperfusion, arthritis, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases. New evi dence has also indicated that vascular lesions are a key factor in the deve lopment of AD. This Idea is based on a positive correlation between AD and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as arterio- and atheroscle rosis and ischemia/reperfusion injury. In this review we consider recent ev idence supporting the existence of an intimate relationship between oxidati ve stress and vascular lesions in the pathobiology of AD. We also consider the opportunities for therapeutic interventions based on the molecular path ways involved with these causal relationships.