Donepezil hydrochloride preserves regional cerebral blood flow in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
The aim of this SPECT study was to investigate the effects of donepezil on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) using statistical parametric mapping.


METHODS
rCBF was noninvasively measured using (99m)Tc-ethyl cysteinate dimer in 35 AD patients with a Mini-Mental State Examination score > 16 on initial evaluation. Baseline and follow-up SPECT studies with a mean interval of 12 mo were performed on these patients. We used the adjusted rCBF images in the relative flow distribution (normalization of global cerebral blood flow for each patient to 50 mL/100 g/min with proportional scaling) to compare these groups through statistical parametric mapping.


RESULTS
In the follow-up study, the adjusted rCBF was significantly preserved in the right and left anterior cingulate gyri, right middle temporal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobules, and prefrontal cortex of donepezil-treated AD patients, compared with placebo-treated AD patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment with donepezil for 1 y appears to reduce the decline in rCBF, suggesting preservation of functional brain activity.
Nakano
S
S
Department of Geriatric Medicine, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan.
Asada
T
T
Matsuda
H
H
Uno
M
M
Takasaki
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil