title: Assessing the prospect of  donepezil  in improving cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Even though cognitive impairment is manifested in almost all patients with schizophrenia, the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials for Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study showed no significant difference between first- and second-generation psychotropic drugs in improving cognitive abilities. Discovering new drugs that can improve impaired cognition, thus, is an attractive treatment target for patients with schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article briefly reviews about donepezil, a highly selective (IC(50) = 6.7 nM) centrally acting reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that has been approved by FDA for treating cognitive deficit states such as in Alzheimer's disease and its uses in clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia. The literature search included PubMed and Cochrane library with the following words: donepezil, schizophrenia and cognitive impairments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of several clinical trials utilizing donepezil as an adjunct to second-generation antipsychotic drugs targeting cognitive deficits in schizophrenia subjects have been disappointing and would not lead clinicians to consider this as a potential treatment option. While longer randomized controlled trials, increase dosage and selected groups of patients at different stage of cognitive impairment may provide a better understanding of the potential for this drug in addressing cognitive deficits, results to date have not been encouraging.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Schizophrenia Clinical and Research Program, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thakurathi
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vincenzi
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D000077265:Donepezil; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010880:Piperidines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil