title: Citicoline, use in cognitive decline: vascular and degenerative.
abstract: CDP-choline has been widespread used in humans for decades as a treatment for many types of cognitive impairment. Despite this, its mechanism of action still remains unclear, but several experimental models in acute cerebral ischaemia suggest that it could have a brain repair action. Due to the lack of significant adverse effects and its high tolerability, there has been a growing interest for this molecule in recent years. In this article, a review of the most significant published clinical trials in cognitive decline has been made. A few Citicoline trials have studied its effects at medium and long-term on vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Results show that Citicoline seems to have beneficial impact on several cognitive domains, but the methodological heterogeneity of the these studies makes it difficult to draw conclusions about these effects. New trials with a greater number of patients, uniform diagnostic criteria for inclusion and standardized neuropsychological assessment are needed to evidence with much more consistency Citicoline efficacy upon cognitive disorders. The use of new neuroimaging procedures in current trials could be of great interest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Stroke Center and Cognitive Impairment Unit, La Paz University Hospital, IdiPAZ Health Research Institute, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Cobos
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frank-García
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Fernández
authors.forename: Exuperio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Díez-Tejedor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline