Rising life expectancies coupled with an increasing awareness of age-related cognitive decline have led to the unwarranted
use of psychopharmaceuticals, including acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), by significant numbers of healthy older
individuals. This trend has developed despite very limited data regarding the effectiveness of such drugs on non-clinical
groups and recent work indicates that AChEIs can have negative cognitive effects in healthy populations. For the first time,
we use a combination of EEG and simultaneous EEG/fMRI to examine the effects of a commonly prescribed AChEI
(donepezil) on cognition in healthy older participants. The short- and long-term impact of donepezil was assessed using two
double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. In both cases, we utilised cognitive (paired associates learning (CPAL)) and
electrophysiological measures (resting EEG power) that have demonstrated high-sensitivity to age-related cognitive decline.
Experiment 1 tested the effects of 5 mg/per day dosage on cognitive and EEG markers at 6-hour, 2-week and 4-week followups.
In experiment 2, the same markers were further scrutinised using simultaneous EEG/fMRI after a single 5 mg dose.
Experiment 1 found significant negative effects of donepezil on CPAL and resting Alpha and Beta band power. Experiment 2
replicated these results and found additional drug-related increases in the Delta band. EEG/fMRI analyses revealed that
these oscillatory differences were associated with activity differences in the left hippocampus (Delta), right frontal-parietal
network (Alpha), and default-mode network (Beta). We demonstrate the utility of simple cognitive and EEG measures in
evaluating drug responses after acute and chronic donepezil administration. The presentation of previously established
markers of age-related cognitive decline indicates that AChEIs can impair cognitive function in healthy older individuals. To
our knowledge this is the first study to identify the precise neuroanatomical origins of EEG drug markers using simultaneous
EEG/fMRI. The results of this study may be useful for evaluating novel drugs for cognitive enhancement.
A blog on neuropharmacology
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Intranasal Insulin Therapy for Alzheimer Disease and Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the effects of intranasal insulin administration on cognition, function, cerebral glucose metabolism, and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer disease (AD).
DESIGN:
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
SETTING:
Clinical research unit of a Veterans Affairs medical center.
PARTICIPANTS:
The intent-to-treat sample consisted of 104 adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (n = 64) or mild to moderate AD (n = 40). Intervention Participants received placebo (n = 30), 20 IU of insulin (n = 36), or 40 IU of insulin (n = 38) for 4 months, administered with a nasal drug delivery device (Kurve Technology, Bothell, Washington).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Primary measures consisted of delayed story recall score and the Dementia Severity Rating Scale score, and secondary measures included the Alzheimer Disease's Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) score and the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-activities of daily living (ADCS-ADL) scale. A subset of participants underwent lumbar puncture (n = 23) and positron emission tomography with fludeoxyglucose F 18 (n = 40) before and after treatment.
RESULTS:
Outcome measures were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of covariance. Treatment with 20 IU of insulin improved delayed memory (P < .05), and both doses of insulin (20 and 40 IU) preserved caregiver-rated functional ability (P < .01). Both insulin doses also preserved general cognition as assessed by the ADAS-cog score for younger participants and functional abilities as assessed by the ADCS-ADL scale for adults with AD (P < .05). Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers did not change for insulin-treated participants as a group, but, in exploratory analyses, changes in memory and function were associated with changes in the Aβ42 level and in the tau protein-to-Aβ42 ratio in cerebrospinal fluid. Placebo-assigned participants showed decreased fludeoxyglucose F 18 uptake in the parietotemporal, frontal, precuneus, and cuneus regions and insulin-minimized progression. No treatment-related severe adverse events occurred.
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A, Areas of hypometabolism at baseline (scan 1) and month 4 (scan 2), along with
changes in hypometabolism ( time
2 – time 1) within each group, and differences in change between the placebo
group and the 20-IU or 40-IU dose insulin group ( nasal insulin – placebo). The red and orange colors, compared with the
green and blue colors, indicate areas of greater hypometabolism from time 1 to
time 2, and from placebo group to insulin groups. B, Change in mean regional
z scores with standard errors of mean (error bars) for the right and left
frontal regions and the left parietal region for the placebo, 20-IU dose
insulin, and 40-IU dose insulin groups. For the right and left frontal
volume-of-interest (VOI) values, placebo-assigned participants had reduced
activity during the 4-month period, whereas the 20-IU and 40-IU dose insulin
groups had preserved or slightly increased activity (treatment group x time interaction: P = .04 for comparison
between placebo group and 20-IU dose insulin group; P = .03 for similar
comparison between placebo group and 40-IU dose insulin group). Similar analyses
for left medial parietal VOI values revealed reduced activity over time for the
placebo group compared with the 40-IU dose insulin group (time x treatment group interaction: P = .05). |
CONCLUSIONS:
These results support longer trials of intranasal insulin therapy for patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and patients with AD. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00438568.
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