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Efficacy and safety of natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor huperzine A in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: an updated meta-analysis

  • Dementias - Original Article
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Abstract

The objective of this study was to provide an updated meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of huperzine A (HupA) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We searched for randomized trials comparing HupA with placebo in the treatment of AD. The primary outcome measures were mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living scale (ADL). Data were extracted from four randomized clinical trials and analyzed using standard meta-analysis and meta-regression methods. Oral administration of HupA for 8–24 weeks (300–500 μg daily) led to significant improvements in MMSE and ADL. The results of meta-regression showed that the estimated effect size of MMSE and ADL was increased over the treatment time. Most adverse events were cholinergic in nature and no serious adverse events occurred. Huperzine A is a well-tolerated drug that could significantly improve cognitive performance and ADL in patients with AD.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30772553), the Program of Shanghai Subject Chief Scientist (06XD14011), the Major Basic Research Project of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (07DJ14005) and Shanghai Rising-Star Program (08QA14042) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Biostatistics, Institute of Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 200025, Shanghai, China

    Bai-song Wang, Hao Wang, Zhao-hui Wei, Yan-yan Song & Hong-zhuan Chen

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 200025, Shanghai, China

    Lu Zhang

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  1. Bai-song Wang
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  2. Hao Wang
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  3. Zhao-hui Wei
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  4. Yan-yan Song
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  5. Lu Zhang
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  6. Hong-zhuan Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hong-zhuan Chen.

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B.-s. Wang and H. Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, Bs., Wang, H., Wei, Zh. et al. Efficacy and safety of natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor huperzine A in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: an updated meta-analysis. J Neural Transm 116, 457–465 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0189-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0189-x

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