The treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is now a fast evolving field of both basic scientific and clinical research. The use of the currently licensed cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) drugs is based on the findings in the midto- late 1970s, and early 1980s, of reduced levels of cholinergic markers in the brain of people who died with AD, mainly in the later stages of severe dementia. These changes were shown to correlate with the severity of pathological and clinical signs of the disease, and led to early attempts to evaluate physostigmine in AD patients (Davis, Mohs, & Tinklenberg, 1979), with more sophisticated trials following later (Asthana et al., 1995; Thal, Ferguson, Mintzer, Raskin, & Targum, 1999).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Amar, K., & Wilcock, G. K. (1996). Vascular dementia. British Medical Journals, 312, 227–231.
Asthana, S., Raffaele, K. C., Berardi, A., Greig, N. H., Haxby, J. V., Schapiro, M. B., et al. (1995). Treatment of Alzheimer disease by continuous intravenous infusion of physostigmine. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 9, 223–232.
Black, S., Roman, G. C., Geldmacher, D. S., Salloway, S., Hecker, J., Burns, A., et al. (2003). Efficacy and tolerability of donepezil in vascular dementia: Positive results of a 24-week, multicenter, international, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Stroke, 34, 2323–2330.
Courtney, C., Farrell, D., Gray, R., Hills, R., Lynch, L., Sellwood, E., et al. (2004). Long-term donepezil treatment in 565 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD2000): Randomised double-blind trial. Lancet, 363, 2105–2115.
Craig, D., & Birks, J. (2005). Rivastigmine for vascular cognitive impairment. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD004744.
Cummings, J. L., & Masterman, D. L. (1998). Assessment of treatment-associated changes in behavior and cholinergic therapy of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 59(Suppl. 13), 23–30.
Davis, K. L., Mohs, R. C., & Tinklenberg, J. R. (1979). Enhancement of memory by physostigmine. The New England Journal of Medicine, 301, 946.
Emre, M., Aarsland, D., Albanese, A., Byrne, E. J., Deuschl, G., De Deyn, P. P., et al. (2004). Rivastigmine for dementia associated with Parkinson's disease. The New England Journal of Medicine, 351, 2509–2518.
Erkinjuntti, T., Kurz, A., Gauthier, S., Bullock, R., Lilienfeld, S., & Damaraju, C. V. (2002). Efficacy of galantamine in probable vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease combined with cerebrovascular disease: A randomised trial. Lancet, 359, 1283–1290.
Farlow, M., Anand, R., Messina, J., Jr., Hartman, R., & Veach, J. (2000). A 52-week study of the efficacy of rivastigmine in patients with mild to moderately severe Alzheimer's disease. European Neurology, 44, 236–241.
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975). Mini-mental state: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.
Francis, P. T., Nordberg, A., & Arnold, S. E. (2005). A preclinical view of cholinesterase inhibitors in neuroprotection: Do they provide more than symptomatic benefits in Alzheimer's disease? Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 26, 104–111.
Francis, P. T., Palmer, A. M., Snape, M., & Wilcock, G. K. (1999). The cholinergic hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: A review of progress. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 66(2), 137–147.
Gauthier, S., Wirth, Y., & Mobius, H. J. (2005). Effects of memantine on behavioural symptoms in Alzheimer's disease patients: An analysis of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) data of two randomised, controlled studies. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 459–464.
Guy, W. (1976). CGI: Clinical global impressions. In W. Guy (Ed.), ECDEU assessment manual for psychopharmacology (rev. ed., pp. 217–220). Rockville: National Institutes of Health.
Hashimoto, M., Kazui, H., Matsumoto, K., Nakano, Y., Yasuda, M., & Mori, E. (2005). Does donepezil treatment slow the progression of hippocampal atrophy in patients with Alzheimer's disease? The American Journal of Psychiatry,162, 676–682.
Kaduszkiewicz, H., Zimmermann, T., Beck-Bornholdt, H. P., & van den Bussche H. (2005). Cholinesterase inhibitors for patients with Alzheimer's disease: Systematic review of randomised clinical trials. British Medical Journals,331, 321–327.
Kumar, V., Anand, R., Messina, J., Hartman, R., & Veach, J. (2000). An efficacy and safety analysis of Exelon in Alzheimer's disease patients with concurrent vascular risk factors. European Journal of Neurology,7, 159–169.
Levy, M. L., Cummings, J. L., & Kahn-Rose, R. (1999). Neuropsychiatric symptoms and cholinergic therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Gerontology, 45 (Suppl. 1), 15–22.
McKeith, I., Del Ser, T., Spano, P., Emre, M., Wesnes, K., Anand, R., et al. (2000). Efficacy of rivastigmine in dementia with Lewy bodies: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled international study. Lancet,356, 2031–2036.
McKeith, I. G., Dickson, D. W., Lowe, J., Emre, M., O'Brien, J. T., Feldman, H., et al. (2005). Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: Third report of the DLB consortium. Neurology,65, 1863–1872.
McShane, R., Areosa, S. A., & Minakaran, N. (2006). Memantine for dementia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD003154.
Menendez-Gonzalez, M., Calatayud, M. T., & Blazquez-Menes, B. (2005). Exacerbation of Lewy bodies dementia due to memantine. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease,8, 289–291.
Mohs, R. C., & Cohen, L. (1988). Alzheimer's disease assessment scale (ADAS). Psychopharmacology Bulletin,24, 627–650.
Nitsch, R. M., Slack, B. E., Wurtman, R. J., & Growdon, J. H. (1992). Release of Alzheimer amyloid precursor derivatives stimulated by activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Science,258, 304–307.
Orgogozo, J. M., Rigaud, A. S., Stoffler, A., Mobius, H. J., & Forette, F. (2002). Efficacy and safety of memantine in patients with mild to moderate vascular dementia: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial (MMM 300). Stroke,33, 1834–1839.
Panisset, M., Roudier, M., Saxton, J., & Boller, F. (1994). Severe impairment battery. A neuropsychological test for severely demented patients. Archives of Neurology,51, 41–45.
Petersen, R. C., Thomas, R. G., Grundman, M., Bennett, D., Doody, R., Ferris, S., et al. (2005). Vitamin E and donepezil for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment. The New England Journal of Medicine,352, 2379–2388.
Qizilbash, N., Birks, J., Lopez-Arrieta, J., Lewington, S., & Szeto, S. (2000). Tacrine for Alzheimer's disease. [Review] [5 refs]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD000202.
Raskind, M. A., Peskind, E. R., Wessel, T., & Yuan, W. (2000). Galantamine in AD: A 6-month randomized, placebo-controlled trial with a 6-month extension. The Galantamine USA-1 Study Group. Neurology,54, 2261–2268.
Reisberg, B., Doody, R., Stoffler, A., Schmitt, F., Ferris, S., & Mobius, H. J. (2003). Memantine in moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease. The New England Journal of Medicine,348, 1333–1341.
Reisberg, B., Schneider, L., Doody, R., Anand, R., Feldman, H., Haraguchi, H., et al. (1997). Clinical global measures of dementia. Position paper from the International Working Group on Harmonization of Dementia Drug Guidelines. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 11 (Suppl. 3), 8–18.
Rogers, S. L., Doody, R. S., Pratt, R. D., & Ieni, J. R. (2000). Long-term efficacy and safety of donepezil in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: Final analysis of a US multicentre open-label study. European Neuropsychopharmacology,10, 195–203.
Rogers, S. L., Farlow, M. R., Doody, R. S., Mohs, R., & Friedhoff, L. T. (1998). A 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Donepezil Study Group. Neurology,50, 136–145.
Rogers, S. L., & Friedhoff, L. T. (1996). The efficacy and safety of donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease: Results of a US multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The Donepezil Study Group. Dementia,7, 293–303.
Rosler, M., Anand, R., Cicin-Sain, A., Gauthier, S., Agid, Y., Dal Bianco, P., et al. (1999). Efficacy and safety of rivastigmine in patients with Alzheimer's disease: International randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journals, 318 (7184), 633–638.
Schmitt, F. A., Ashford, W., Ernesto, C., Saxton, J., Schneider, L. S., Clark, C. M., et al. (1997). The severe impairment battery: Concurrent validity and the assessment of longitudinal change in Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 11 (Suppl. 2), S51–S56.
Sclan, S. G., & Reisberg, B. (1992). Functional assessment staging (FAST) in Alzheimer's disease: Reliability, validity, and ordinality. International Psychogeriatrics, 4 (Suppl. 1), 55–69.
Summers, W. K., Majovski, L. V., Marsh, G. M., Tachiki, K., & Kling, A. (1986). Oral tetrahydroaminoacridine in long-term treatment of senile dementia, Alzheimer type. The New England Journal of Medicine,315, 1241–1245.
Tariot, P. N., Farlow, M. R., Grossberg, G. T., Graham, S. M., McDonald, S., & Gergel, I. (2004). Memantine treatment in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer disease already receiving donepezil: A randomized controlled trial. The Journal of American Medical Association,291, 317–324.
Tariot, P. N., Solomon, P. R., Morris, J. C., Kershaw, P., Lilienfeld, S., & Ding, C. (2000). A 5-month, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of galantamine in AD. The Galantamine USA-10 Study Group. Neurology,54, 2269–2276.
Thal, L. J., Ferguson, J. M., Mintzer, J., Raskin, A., & Targum, S. D. (1999). A 24-week randomized trial of controlled-release physostigmine in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neurology,52, 1146–1152.
Trinh, N. H., Hoblyn, J., Mohanty, S., & Yaffe, K. (2003). Efficacy of cholinesterase inhibitors in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms and functional impairment in Alzheimer disease: A meta-analysis. The Journal of American Medical Association,289, 210–216.
Venneri, A., McGeown, W. J., & Shanks, M. F. (2005). Empirical evidence of neuroprotection by dual cholinesterase inhibition in Alzheimer's disease. Neuroreport,16, 107–110.
Watkins, P. B., Zimmerman, H. J., Knapp, M. J., Gracon, S. I., & Lewis, K. W. (1994). Hepatotoxic effects of tacrine administration in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The Journal of American Medical Association,271, 992–998.
Wilcock, G., Howe, I., Coles, H., Lilienfeld, S., Truyen, L., Zhu, Y., et al. (2003). A long-term comparison of galantamine and donepezil in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Drugs Aging,20, 777–789.
Wilcock, G. K., Lilienfeld, S., & Gaens, E. (2000). Efficacy and safety of galantamine in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: Multicentre randomised controlled trial. Galantamine International-1 Study Group. British Medical Journals,321, 1445–1449.
Wilcock, G., Mobius, H. J., Stoeffler, A., & on behalf of the MMM 500 group (2002). A double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre study of memantine in mild to moderate vascular dementia (MMM500). International Clinical Psychopharmacology,17, 297–305.
Wilcock, G., Stoeffler, A., Sahin, K., & Mobius, H. J. (2000). Neuro-radiological findings and the magnitude of cognitive benefit by memantine treatment. A subgroup analysis of two placebo-controlled clinical trials in vascular dementia. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 10 (Suppl. 3), S360.
Wilkinson, D. G., Passmore, A. P., Bullock, R., Hopker, S. W., Smith, R., Potocnik, F. C., et al. (2002). A multinational, randomised, 12-week, comparative study of donepezil and rivastigmine in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. International Journal of Clinical Practice,56, 441–446.
Wimo, A., Wetterholm, A. L., Mastey, V., & Winblad, B. (1998). Evaluation of the healthcare resource utilisation and caregiver time in anti-dementia drug trials. In A. Wimo, B. Jonsson, G. Karlsson, & B. Winblad (Eds.), Health economics of dementia (pp. 465–499). Chichester: John Wiley.
Winblad, B., Kilander, L., Eriksson, S., Minthon, L., Batsman, S., Wetterholm, A. L., et al. (2006). Donepezil in patients with severe Alzheimer's disease: Double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study. Lancet,367, 1057–1065.
Winblad, B., & Poritis, N. (1999). Memantine in severe dementia: Results of the 9M-Best Study (Benefit and efficacy in severely demented patients during treatment with memantine). International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,14, 135–146.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wilcock, G.K. (2007). The Pharmacological Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease with Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine. In: Pharmacological Mechanisms in Alzheimer's Therapeutics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71522-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71522-3_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-71521-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-71522-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)