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Spotlight on cerebrolysin in dementia
Greg L Plosker1, Serge Gauthier
1Adis, a Wolters Kluwer Business, Auckland, New Zealand. demail@adis.co.nz
CNS Drugs
|February 17, 2010
Summary
Cerebrolysin, a peptide preparation, shows promise in improving cognitive function and global outcomes for patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Clinical trials indicate it is well-tolerated and a potentially valuable addition to dementia treatment options.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Cerebrolysin is a brain-derived peptide preparation administered parenterally.
- It exhibits pharmacodynamic properties analogous to endogenous neurotrophic factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of Cerebrolysin in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD).
- To assess the safety and tolerability of Cerebrolysin in clinical trials.
Main Methods:
- Review of several randomized, double-blind trials in AD patients.
- Analysis of a large, randomized comparison of Cerebrolysin, donepezil, and combination therapy.
- Inclusion of data from studies in VaD patients.
Main Results:
- Cerebrolysin demonstrated superiority over placebo in global and cognitive measures in AD patients.
- All treatment groups (Cerebrolysin, donepezil, combination) showed improvements compared to baseline in a large comparative trial.
- Beneficial effects on global and cognitive measures were observed in VaD patients.
Conclusions:
- Available data suggest Cerebrolysin is a useful treatment option for dementia.
- Further long-term studies are needed to define its role, especially in combination with cholinesterase inhibitors.
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