title: A Two-Year Treatment of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment using a Compound Chinese Medicine: A Placebo Controlled Randomized Trial.
abstract: We aimed to investigate the long-term therapeutic effects of a compound Chinese medicine, the Bushen capsule, on cognition and brain connectivity in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Thus, sixty aMCI participants were recruited to this 24-month study and were randomly divided into treatment (30 with a Bushen capsule) and placebo (30 with a placebo capsule) groups. Neuropsychological tests with MMSE and episodic memory as the primary outcomes and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed before and after the treatment over 24 month period. In contrast to the placebo group, the drug group presented improved or stable general cognitive function, memory, language and executive function especially the primary outcomes MMSE and episodic memory with Bushen capsule treatment. FMRI results showed increased connectivity in the right precuneus and the global connectivity indexed with goodness of fit (GOF) of the default mode network (DMN) in the drug group and decreased GOF in the placebo group. More importantly, we found the GOF change was positively correlated with changes in MMSE and memory scores after 24 months in the drug group. Over 24 months, treatment with the compound Chinese medicine Bushen capsule can improve multiple domains of cognition and increase the functional local (right precuneus) and global connectivity within the DMN, which are associated with better performance.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Junying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Huamin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Caishui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, P. R. China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ 85006, USA.
authors.forename: Kewei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning &IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.|BABRI Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhanjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002214:Capsules / Q000008:administration & dosage; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D000073216:Mental Status and Dementia Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D010919:Placebos / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: C583062:Bushen formula; D002214:Capsules; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010919:Placebos