The 5-HT6 receptor has emerged as a promising target for cognitive disorders and combining a 5-HT6 receptor antagonist with an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) represents a novel approach for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A recent phase 2 trial showed that the selective 5-HT6 receptor antagonist idalopirdine (Lu AE58054) improved cognition in patients with moderat...

donepezil, a member of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor family, is approved for management of cognitive impairments as well as behavioral complications in patients with neurodegenerative alzheimer's disease. generally, donepezil is regarded as a safe medication in patients with alzheimer's disease although there have been reports of several minor adverse events including gastrointestinal dist...

BACKGROUND Ethnic diversity between different populations may affect treatment safety and efficacy. AIMS AND METHODS A subanalysis to a global trial (study 326) was carried out to ascertain the safety and efficacy of donepezil 23 mg/day compared with donepezil 10 mg/day in Asian patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease. Changes in cognition and global functioning were measured by ...

Alzheimer disease (AD) involves neuronal degeneration with impaired cholinergic transmission in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus in areas of the brain particularly associated with memory and higher intellectual functioning. Other neurotransmitter deficits also occur, but the mechanisms underlying the widespread impairment of synaptic functions remain uncertain. Research on the molecular basi...

OBJECTIVE To study the safety and efficacy of the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cognitive impairment. METHODS This was a double blind, randomised and placebo controlled, crossover study in which 14 patients with PD and cognitive impairment received donepezil (5 or 10 mg per day) or matching placebo during two sequential periods lasting 10 wee...

Therapy with donepezil (Aricept®, Pfizer) has been found to significantly improve behavioral symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A 20-week study was designed primarily to compare the efficacy and safety of the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft®, Pfizer) with placebo in patients already receiving donepezil therapy. The patients were not depressed but were exhibit...

Olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) causes cognitive dysfunction by degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum. Here, we define an involvement of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in neuroprotective effect of donepezil in the septum neurons of OBX mice. Neuroprotective effects on the medial septal cholinergic neurons were assessed after chronic donepezil administration in OBX mice. ...

In the brain of Alzheimer's patients, the cholinergic neurons innervated the hippocampus and cerebral cortex degenerates before accumulation of beta-amyloid protein. Donepezil, a potent acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor is reported to rescue neurons from excitotoxic injury in culture. However, there is no evidence to confirm its neuroprotective effect on ACh neurons in vivo. Using olfactory...

Donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia secondary to Alzheimer's disease. Although most prescribers are aware of the common gastrointestinal side effects of donepezil, cardiovascular side effects are rarely observed. Cardiovascular side effects of donepezil have almost always been observed in patients with a history of conduction ...