Abstract
Currently, there is no effective means to evaluate donepezil response. We evaluated brain perfusion change at 4 h after donepezil administration (4 h DNPZ) to predict cognitive responses after 6 months of medication. CERAD neuropsychological assessment battery was used to define cognitive response at 6 months. We compared 4 h DNPZ to baseline single photon emission tomography (SPECT) by statistical parametric mapping to identify perfusion changes in responders (N = 16) and non-responders (N = 7). In responders, there were significant relatively increase in perfusion in left parietal lobe (BA39, 7, 1), right superior frontal gyrus (BA6) and right middle occipital gyrus (BA39). In the non-responders, perfusion was relatively increase in the left parietal lobe (BA39) only. In an explorative analysis, we found a significant correlation between perfusion changes in right BA6 and CERAD score changes at 6 months. Different SPECT perfusion changes at 4 h after donepezil administration were demonstrated in the group of responders and non-responders with potential correlation with CERAD score change. Thus, 4 h DNPZ brain perfusion SPECT can be used to predict donepezil response at 6 months.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Thai Government Fund [grant number GRB_APS_07_57_30_05]. We would like to thank all nuclear medicine technologists, nurses, Ms. Treerat Nasingha, and Ms. Kanokon Srirojnoppakun for their technical assistance. We appreciate Prof. Kammant Phanthumchinda’s advise. We also thank Research Affairs, Faculty of Medicine Chulalongkorn University for providing English editing service.
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Tepmongkol, S., Hemrungrojn, S., Dupont, P. et al. Early prediction of donepezil cognitive response in Alzheimer’s disease by brain perfusion single photon emission tomography. Brain Imaging and Behavior 13, 1665–1673 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00182-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00182-9