[An interventional study on amnestic mild cognitive impairment with small dose donepezil].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of small dose donepezil (Aricept) on the cognition status and the changes of metabolites in brain tissue in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) in order to find out the effective way to prevent and cure dementia.


METHODS
33 patients with aMCI were selected. There were 21 cases in a treatment group taking 2.5 mg of Aricept daily for 3 months and 12 cases in a control group taking basic internal medicines. Before and after taking the medicine, cognition tests such as clinical memory test, basic IQ test, language fluency test and drawing-clock test were carried out. Before and after treatment, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in hippocampus region was carried out in 5 patients of the treatment group.


RESULTS
Compared with the results before treatment, the memory IQ test, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) total scores as well as delayed memory scores in the treatment group were improved significantly after treatment. The difference was statistically significant. MRS results indicated that after treatment NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr in hippocampus region did not change significantly and MI/Cr was increased.


CONCLUSIONS
2.5 mg/d of Aricept can improve general cognition function in patients with aMCI as shown by memory IQ and delayed memory scores. The results of MRS indicate that no apparent change of NAA/Cr and increase of MI/Cr imply improvement of memory with Aricept through activating astrocytes, stabilizing neurons and regulating the signal transmission among synapses.
Wang
Lu-ning
LN
Department of Neurology, PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China. ln_wang301@sohu.com.
Wang
Wei
W
Zhang
Xiao-hong
XH
Ma
Lin
L
Yin
Hong
H
Li
De-jun
DJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000647:Amnesia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007294:Inositol / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D010880:Piperidines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology
D007189:Indans; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D007294:Inositol; D000077265:Donepezil; D003401:Creatine