title: Twenty years of cholinergic intervention in Alzheimer's disease: A tale of disappointment and ultimate confidence.
abstract: The authors present an overview of drugs that operate on the basis of the cholinergic hypothesis, either currently available for the palliative treatment of Alzheimer's disease or in the later stages of clinical development. Of the many conceivable strategies that are being exploited, only inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase have been shown to have sufficient therapeutic potential and manageable side-effect profiles to be turned into broadly acknowledged drugs. These compounds, and others based on the modulation of cholinergic neurotransmission, are discussed and a differentiation of their clinical potential is attempted.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Department and Memory Clinic, Donau Hospital, Vienna.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rainer
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Mucke
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; acetylcholine; acetylcholinesterase inhibitor; muscarinic receptor agonist; nootropic