title: Activation PET as an instrument to determine therapeutic efficacy in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Forty patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) were selected from a pool of 80 patients and assigned to 4 groups. Each received either social support, cognitive training only, or cognitive training in combination with pyritinol or phosphatidylserine. Treatment duration was 6 months. Before and after treatment the patients underwent neuropsychological testing as well as measurement of the regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose using positron emission tomography (PET) and 2[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). Before treatment, the groups were comparable in respect to resting and activated glucose pattern achieved by a visual recognition task. They did not differ in scores of a neuropsychological test battery. After the treatment period the group with cognitive training + phosphatidylserine showed a significant glucose enhancement during the stimulation tasks in various brain regions, and an improvement in cognitive functioning compared to the other groups. The group with cognitive training + pyritinol had better stimulation effect as that of the social support group indicating that a combination of cognitive training + pharmacological intervention was superior than that of cognitive training alone.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Neurologische Forschung and Neurologische Universitätsklinik, Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Heiss
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Slansky
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mielke
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Szelies
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herholz
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D003071:Cognition; D003847:Deoxyglucose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010718:Phosphatidylserines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011746:Pyrithioxin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012944:Social Support; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D010718:Phosphatidylserines; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D003847:Deoxyglucose; D011746:Pyrithioxin