Memory improvement without toxicity during chronic, low dose intravenous arecoline in Alzheimer's disease
- 1 October 1993
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by Springer Nature in Psychopharmacology
- Vol. 112 (4), 421-427
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02244889
Abstract
Arecoline, a cholinergic agonist, administered at low doses by continuous intravenous infusion for up to 2 weeks, significantly and replicably improved memory in five of nine subjects with mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease. During dose finding, performance on a verbal memory task improved with an inverted U-shaped relation to dose. Six of nine subjects were classified as responders. During blinded, placebo-controlled, individualized optimal dosing for 5 days, verbal memory again improved in five of six responders but not in any non-responder. No adverse drug effects occurred. Arecoline, and possibly other cholinergic agonists, can safely improve memory in Alzheimer's disease at doses much lower than previously studied.Keywords
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