Donepezil decreases annual rate of hippocampal atrophy in suspected prodromal Alzheimer's disease.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study was to study the effect of donepezil on the rate of hippocampal atrophy in prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD).


METHODS
A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled parallel group design using donepezil (10 mg/day) in subjects with suspected prodromal AD. Subjects underwent two brain magnetic resonance imaging scans (baseline and final visit). The primary efficacy outcome was the annualized percentage change (APC) of total hippocampal volume (left + right) measured by an automated segmentation method.


RESULTS
Two-hundred and sixteen only subjects were randomized across 28 French expert clinical sites. In the per protocol population (placebo = 92 and donepezil = 82), the donepezil group exhibited a significant reduced rate of hippocampal atrophy (APC = -1.89%) compared with the placebo group (APC = -3.47%), P < .001. There was no significant difference in neuropsychological performance between treatment groups.


DISCUSSION
A 45% reduction of rate of hippocampal atrophy was observed in prodromal AD following 1 year of treatment with donepezil compared with placebo.
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D000368:Aged D000544:Alzheimer Disease D001284:Atrophy D018450:Disease Progression D000077265:Donepezil D004311:Double-Blind Method D005260:Female D005602:France D006624:Hippocampus D006801:Humans D007189:Indans D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging D008297:Male D018696:Neuroprotective Agents D009929:Organ Size D010880:Piperidines D062706:Prodromal Symptoms D016896:Treatment Outcome
Donepezil Prodromal Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease Amnestic MCI Biomarker Hippocampus MRI Mild cognitive impairment Randomized controlled trial Rate of atrophy Therapy Volumetric imaging Whole brain analysis