STUDY OBJECTIVES We investigated if donepezil, a long-acting orally administered cholinesterase inhibitor, would reduce episodic memory deficits associated with 24 h of sleep deprivation. DESIGN Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study involving 7 laboratory visits over 2 months. Participants underwent 4 functional MRI scans; 2 sessions (donepezil or placebo) followed a normal night'...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of donepezil in patients with early-stage Alzheimer disease. DESIGN Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, 24-week, placebo-controlled study that enrolled patients with early-stage Alzheimer disease. Patients were randomized in an approximately 2:1 ratio to donepezil, 5 mg/d, for the first 6 weeks, with a forced escalation to 10 mg/d thereafter (n = 96), or ...

The aim of this SPECT study was to investigate the effects of donepezil on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using statistical parametric mapping. Methods: rCBF was noninvasively measured using 99mTc-ethyl cysteinate dimer in 35 AD patients with a Mini-Mental State Examination score . 16 on initial evaluation. Baseline and follow-up S...

OBJECTIVE In the 24-week randomized, double-blind, double-placebo, parallel-controlled trial, we aimed to test the effects of herbal therapy with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). METHODS A total of 324 patients with aMCI entered a 2-week placebo run-in period followed by 24 weeks' treatment of either (a) herbal capsule (5 shenwu capsules/administration, 3 times/day) and placebo iden...

BACKGROUND Patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) respond variably to treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. OBJECTIVE To determine whether measures of hippocampal volume and shape predict the response to donepezil in patients with DAT. DESIGN T1-weighted, magnetic resonance images were obtained from patients with DAT, who subsequently underwent treatment with donepezil...

Comprehensive Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment should address caregiver well-being. We predicted that caregiver burden would be lower among caregivers of AD patients who received donepezil relative to caregivers of patients not treated with donepezil. A self-administered, nationwide survey of AD caregivers was used to match caregivers of patients treated with donepezil (n = 274) to caregivers...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Examine the effects of donepezil on sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) in patients with Alzheimer disease, using polysomnography, and the correlation between REM sleep EEG parameters and cognitive scores. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. SETTINGS Two sleep research centers, University Hospital. PARTICIPANTS Thirty...

The 5-HT6 receptor is a promising target for cognitive disorders, in particular for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other CNS disorders. The high-affinity and selective 5-HT6 receptor antagonist idalopirdine (Lu AE58054) is currently in development for mild-moderate AD as adjunct therapy to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs). We studied the effects of idalopirdine alone and in combination wi...

GOAL Combinatorial therapy directed at both vascular and neurodegenerative aspects of dementia may offer a promising strategy for treatment of dementia, which often has a multifactorial basis in the elderly. We investigated whether the phosphodiesterase III inhibitor cilostazol, which is often used in the prevention of stroke and peripheral artery disease, may delay cognitive decline in the eld...

OBJECTIVE To provide pilot data for the safety and efficacy of EGb 761 in the oldest-old patients (aged 80 or older). MATERIALS AND METHODS In a retrospective analysis, we compared treatment outcomes with EGb 761 or donepezil over 12 months in 189 patients aged 80 years or older suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD). RESULTS Over 12 months, there was no significant difference in cognitive...