Alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) agonists may be valuable treatments for negative symptoms and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Unfortunately, chronic exposure to an agonist may reduce the receptor's sensitivity. Therefore, we combined CDP-choline, a dietary source of the direct agonist choline, with galantamine, a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of nicotinic acetylc...

We are reporting a female case of semantic dementia. Characteristic of this type of dementia, she could not recognize some objects such as a pencil, a ruler or her dominant hand. When shown a pencil, she would ask “What is a pencil?” Her brain MRI showed atrophy of bilateral temporal lobes, especially anterior poles. SPECT also showed abnormally decreased blood flow in temporal lobes and fronta...

Three new cholinesterase inhibitors, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine, all inhibit the enzyme AChE. Rivastigmine also inhibits BuChE, which could lead to additional benefits in late-stage Alzheimer's disease, but also cause more GI side effects at initiation of therapy. Galantamine is also an allosteric modulator of nicotinic receptors, which could lead to additional efficacy for attent...

Cholinergic systems are critical to the neural mechanisms mediating learning. Reduced nicotinic cholinergic receptor (nAChR) binding is a hallmark of normal aging. These reductions are markedly more severe in some dementias, such as Alzheimer's disease. Pharmacological central nervous system therapies are a means to ameliorate the cognitive deficits associated with normal aging and aging-relate...

BACKGROUND Regional brain correlates of treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors in those with Alzheimer disease are unknown. OBJECTIVE To map brain metabolism associated with the treatment response to galantamine with fludeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography in patients with Alzheimer disease. DESIGN This is a hypothesis-driven, prospective, open-label study of 19 patients with mi...

OBJECTIVE Mental fatigue, cognitive disorders, and sleep disturbances seen in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may be attributed to cholinergic deficit. A functional deficiency of cholinergic neurotransmission may cause the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hypoactivity seen in CFS. Therefore, we investigated the alterations in stress hormones such as cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate...

OBJECTIVE To assess the long-term health and economic impact of treating mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) with galantamine (16 mg or 24 mg per day) compared to no cholinesterase therapy in the UK. METHODS The long-term costs and outcomes were assessed using a model developed from longitudinal data on a cohort of AD patients. The model predicts the time until patients require full-tim...

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that an acute in vivo treatment with reversible or irreversible acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors modifies the activities of nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) in hippocampal neurons. Here, whole-cell nicotinic responses were recorded from CA1 interneurons in hippocampal slices obtained from male guinea pigs at 1, 7, or 14 days after treatmen...

Although dopaminergic mechanisms are known to modulate cognitive function and cholinergic transmission, their pharmacological characterization remains incomplete. Herein, the role of D1 sites was evaluated employing neurochemical and behavioural approaches. By analogy to the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, galantamine (0.0025-0.63 mg/kg s.c.), the selective and high efficacy D1 receptor agonist...