title: Effect of donepezil in Alzheimer disease can be measured by a computerized human analog of the Morris water maze.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drug development for Alzheimer disease (AD) is challenged by the success in animal models tested in the Morris water maze (MWM) and the subsequent failures to meet primary outcome measures in phase II or III clinical trials in patients. The human variant of MWM (hMWM) enables us to examine allocentric and egocentric navigation as in the MWM.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  It was the aim of this study to examine the utility of a computerized hMWM to assess the effects of donepezil in mild AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Donepezil 5 mg/day was started after initial hMWM testing in the treated group (n = 12), and after 28 days, the dose was increased to 10 mg/day. The performance after 3 months was compared to that of a non-treated group (n = 12).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Donepezil stabilized or improved the spatial navigation performance after 3 months, especially in the allocentric delayed recall subtask (p = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The computerized hMWM has the potential to measure the effects of donepezil in mild AD. It is a sensitive cognitive outcome measure in AD clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hort
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Andel
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mokrisova
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gazova
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amlerova
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valis
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Coulson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Windisch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laczó
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003201:Computers; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil