Post on 27-Feb-2023
ORALTETRAHYDROAMINOACRIDINE IN LONG-TERM TREATMENT OF SENILE DEMENTIA, ALZHEIMER TYPE
'vVn.LlAM KOOPMANS Sl;MMERS, i'I'f.D., LAWRENCE VICTOR I'vIAJOVSKI, PH.D., GARY ~1ART!;-J :'v1ARSH, PH.D., KE:'JNETH TACHIKI, PH.D., AND ARTH R KLING, ]'>/1.0.
Abstract We treated 17 patients who had moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease with oral \etrahydroaminoacridine (THA), a centrally active anticholinesterase, in a three-phase study. In the nonblinded first phase of the study, significant improvement occurred in subjects who received the drug. as compared with their pretreatment status, on the global assessment (P ~ 0.001), the Orientation Test (P = 0.001), and the more sophisticated Names Learning Test (P = 0.001). During the second phase, the SUbjects served as their own controls in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study in which the order of administration of the drug and placebo was randomly assigned. Among the 14 subjects completing Phase II, THA treatment produced significantly better results than
DErVIE0ITIA of' tht: .... lzheiIDer type is a slowly proo-ressivc neuropsychialric condition Ihat is prin
cipally ll1anilcslec! by memory deficits and that results in death from debilitating disease in 6 to 12 yea)". I Although its cause is unknown. ome specific neurochemical and analomicallesions have been observr:d. In 1976 Davies and ~'laloney demonstrated a specific deficit ill choline acetyltransferase in autopsy material (i'om patients with Alzheimer',; disease 2 This f'nzyme is responsible for the formation of' acetylcholine from choline and acetyl-coenzy'me A. The findings of Davies and Maloney have been confirmed by several othcr investigators J -6 Coyle et al. demonstrated a seleclive loss of cholinergic neurons in the septal-diagonal band of' the Broca-nu leus basalis system in patients \\lith Alzheimer's disease,7
Once these specific transmitter lesions were identified, the development of a treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease became possible. In 1gSI the results of a study of the short-term use of in trav.;nous 1,2,3,4tetrahydro-9-amilloacridine (THA), a potenl centrally acting anticholine. terase, for therapy of memory deficits in patients Wilh Alzheimer's disease \-IITI published B The 75 percent positive response to THA not
From the Dcpanment of Psychiatry. University of California, La Angeles: the. Department of Rehabilitation. Huminglon Memori,,1 Hospital. P"sadena. Calif.: the Depar1ment of Biostatistics. niversity of Pitt,burgh. Pinsbu'·gh. Pa.: and the SepulVeda Velerans Administratiun Hospital, SepUlveda. Calif. Address reprint rcquesls 10 Dr. Summers al 624 W. Duane Rd .. Arcadia, CA 91006.
placebo on the global assessment (P = 0.003), the Orientation Test (P ~ 0.004). the Alzheimer's Deficit Scale (P 0.003). and the Names Learning Test (P = 0,001)_c
Twelve subjects have entered Phase 111, which involves long-term administration of oral THA. The average duration of treatment in these subjects at present is 12.6 months; symptomatic improvements have occurred, and no serious side effects attributable to THA have been observed.
These encouraging initial results suggest that THA may be at least temporarily useful in the long-term palliative treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease. We stress that further observations will be required before a clear assessment of the role of this agent can be made. (N Engl J Med 1986; 315:1241-5.)
only supported the cholinergic hypothesis but was encouraging with regard to possible palliative treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
111 this papet· we report our r\:perienee with longterm administration of oral THA to patients in the middle and late stages or suspected Alzhcimn's disease.
METHODS
Twenty-Ihree sul~jec{s wilh a clinical diagnosis of undifferentiated demenlia werc considered for Ihe study.~' The criteria for inclusion \Ver~ a clinical historv consistent with demcllIia, an age of S5 or older, and rhc ahilil, to speak English. The criteria for exclusion were evidence t,f abnormal liver function and moderalely severe obslructi"e pulmonary disease. No exclusions were made because of concomitant use of other medications. All subjects were asked to take nine or more capsules of commercial lecithin () 100 mg per capsule) or its eqnivalenl per day. The subjects were inpatients al lhe Huntington :Vlemorial Hospilal or the Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California, for 2 to 14 days of Ihe sludy. The remainder of the investigation was conducted in "n outpatielll sClling.
Thc study was divided into Ihree phases. Various questions werc asked in the different phases of the slUd\'. I n Phase I, Ihe questions were (I) Is Ihe diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease accurate' (2) Does THA improve mentation in a nonblinded e\'aJuation:' (3) What dose of THA provides optimal benefit without side effects' In Phase II, we asked, At the optimal dose of THA for each subject in Phase I, is the active agent, as compared with the placebo, producing a difference in mentation? Two quc tions were a 'ked in Phase III: Al the optimal Jose of THA, is the improvement seen in Phases I and [[ maintained? Is there long-term unsuspected toxicity due to THA'
In Ihe first phase, extcns;ve diagnostic evaluation ""as done, and oral THA was administered in a non blinded Irial. The diagnostic evaluation included Slandard procedures. ' ·
IO In addilion, all sub-
Reprinted from the New England Journal of Medicine 315:1241-1245 (November 13), J986
jects were sc)"(,ened b\' a I-rng' elexarnethasu"e-wpprc,sion lc,t with semm cortisol rnea,urements ;It 17 ;mel 24 hours, 24-holll" Hoher monitoring, a carotid duplex scan, ;lnd a cranial nuclear magnetic resonance scan. Th~ screenin~ psychometric tests wcre the LuriaNebraska Neurop vcllOlogica! Test, the ;Vlinnesota \lultiphasic Personalit), Inventory, the ;'\ie\\' York University :'v!cmor" Test, Wechsler's Aelult Intellig.-nee Scale, the Names Learning Test, the Alzheimer's Deficit cale. tilt· Orientation Test, and the ;'vlini :\·lental Status Test. Adelitionalt~sts,,'ere ordered if clinieallv indicated.
During Phase T, a 2.'J-mg dose of oral THA \vas given in the first 24 hours. The dosage of" TH!\ was then increased in ineremeJ1ls of :25 to 50 mg- per day to a peak dose of ISO to 200 mg pn day, over 7 to 10 days. The peak dose was ideillitied bv the observation of clinical improvem.-nt without side effects or of treatment with 200 mg per day without dinieal improvement. Clini al improvement was measured hy a daily global assessment, the Names Learning Test, and the Orientation Test"·11
Phase II was conducted in an outpatient setting. The patients were randomly assigncdlO receive either THA at the optimal dose determined in Phase 1 ur a similar numbel' or placebo pills fur three weeks. The family. the patient, the family physician, and the dinical technicians wcre blinded to which medication was being used. The patients served as their own controls: in the next illI'.-e weeks of Phase II, th.-y received th.- other a!<~nt. Clinical assessment was done with the psychometric leSts Ii ted earlier. Toxicit~, was assessed in Phase II by weekly omp1ete blood counts and chemistry profiles and monthly dectroeardiograms.
Phase I I I was a long-term slLlely of oral THA treatment. Clinical improvement during- therapy with THA (as compared with placebo) in Phase II was mandatory before a subject was accepted into Phase Ill. The initial dose of THA in Phase III was the optimal dose established in Phases I and 11. ~-[onlhly assessments for longterm toxicit\' and clinical effects were done as in Phase II.
THA was ohtained from Aldrich Chemical (Milwaukee) and then formulated in 2.~-mg ablets (Solo Research). The placebo tablets ,,'cre identical in appearance to the THA tablets.
The statistical anal\'sis of the data focused on the pairwise comparison of median test scores as measured by ['Iur scales, the glohal assessment. thc Orientation Test, the Names Learning Test, ilnd the Alzheimer's Defil'it Scale. Three IreatmeJ1l conditions were compared: pre-THA versus THA, prc-THe\ \"(rsu, plae bo, and THA "crsus placebo. Pail"\\'isc comparisons were "Iso performed on two subgroups of the data defined by the pretreatment global a, sessrnent score; Group I included patients in Stages :1 and 4 of Alzheimer's disease. and Group 2 included those in Stages 5 and 6. [n all paired comparisons, the Wilcoxonmalched-pair, signed-rank, nonpal'am~tric statistical test was used [0 perform a two-tailed test of the null hypothesis that the median test scores in each sample were equal. I"
RESULTS
Of the 23 subjects considered for this stuely, 6 were considered not to have Alzheimer's disease on the basis of laboratory tests. There were no significanr differences in age, sex, or race between the subjects with and without Alzheimer's disease: The mean (±SE) age of the 17 subjects with Alzheimer's disease was 70.65± 1.92 years; that of tbe ubjects without Alzheimer's diseas was 72.5± 1.86. Of the six subj,xts without Alzheimer's disease, one was found at autopsy to have had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. One subject had severe hypothyroidism (the level of thyroidstimulating hormone was 470 J.Lg per milliliter). Two had extensive multiple small cerebral infarcts on a nuclear magnetic re onance scan. Two had normalpressure hydrocephalus, as assessed by cisternography. Four of the six subjects without Alzheimer's disease received a trial of oral THA at doses of 1I p to 200 mg per day, without any ,'pparent benefit.
~)eventeen subjects were considered to have Alzheimer's disease_ five of the 17 had additional diagnoses that were thought to have contribul,~d to the dementia but not 10 have caused it. One had a low B I2
lev I hut a minimally positiv<" Shilling t Sl. Supplemental intramuscular- Bt2 was given for two months, but there was no positive response. This patient did jmprov~ on the THA regimen. One- subject had Parkinson's rlisease, a mild clini~al depression, and a positive dexamethasone-suppression test. Another patient with Alzheimer's disease had three small areas of foet! ('r:rebral infar-ction, with no history of hypertension. One patient with 'ever dementia also had cerebral anoxia without focal infarction, sr:condary to pulmonary atelectasi on the second day 01 tbe study; however, this appeared to be independent of 'iHA
GLOBAL STAGES
6 5 4 3 2 a ---'----'-c;::::::===='::;;;--L.....--.L.I...J1
SD-01 0 .. 9r- A...·>---------'
80-03 ~~.---------·...J9
o------.....'r·SD-05 t;...
0-------.e..,9SD-06 t;.4
O,.------_e9SD-07 t;..
80-08 [)----------.0
(J~----------------_.. 980-09 t;.4
[)--------oo.,O
SO-13
50-11
g.. "9
0...-----.....,98D-14 A.....e-------' SO-IS
80-16 or---------.....9A .J_
oe-----~e..,930-20 t;. •
50-21
80-22
23 0----080- 1
50-24 0--0 'I___'--__...L.--__-'--__....... --__..L-.II I
6 5 4 23 o1
STAGE
Figure 1. Change in Stages of Alzheimer's Disease during Oral THA Treatment.
The squares denote the initial pretreatment slage of Alzheimer's disease, the circles the eHecl of THA treatment on global staging, and the triangles Ihe placebo effect The palient numbers are shown on the ordinate. Tile assessments were based on 0 10 6
global stages of Alzheimer's disease.s
100 each test were compared in the lo** 90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
tal sample, the subjects with mod***
I erately severe Alzheimer's disease ~Stage 3-4) at the beginning of the
I [ . ·;tudY, and the subjects with severe \Jzheimer's disease (Stage 5-6) at base line. Comparisons were made between base line ,pretreatment) and oral THA treatment, oral THAI I ~ 1 trealment (both blinded and non} 1 t blinded) and placebo treatment (the blinded data collection of Phase II), and base line and placebo treatment. [i I The results of all four tests showed BASELINE THA PLACEBO BASELINE THA PLACEBO BASELINE THA PLACEBO
significant improvement with the ALL SUBJECTS STAOE 3-4 SUBJECTS STAGE 5-6 SUBJECTS
THA treatment, as compared with Figure 2. Results of Assessments with the Alzheimer's Deficit Scale. base line, in the entire group. In the
The median values and the 25th to 75th percentile limits are shown for three sub group of patients with severe Alzgroups: all subjects, subjects in Stage 3 to 4. and subjects in Stage 5 to 6. For each heimer's disease, the more ,'ophistisubgroup, base-line values, values during oral THA treatment, and values during cated i\ames Learning Test did not
placebo treatment are shown (: denotes P<O.05...* P<O.01, and *** P<O.001).
administration. One 94-year-old .subject had insulindependent diabetes mellitus. The remaining 12 subjects had uncomplicated Alzheimer's disease.
All 17 subjects who were considered to have Alzheimer's disease completed Phase 101' the study. Fifteen subjects entered Phase II and 12 subjects entered Phase I I I. Two subjects were exd ucled from the study after Phase I because of noncompliance. One of these suusequentiy died, and the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was confirmed at autopsy.
Figure I shows the change in global assessment between base line and the period of THA treatment in 17 patients with Alzheirnn's disease. The median global stage before THA was 4.0, which indicated severe deficits due to Alzheimer's disease. During the administration 01" oral THA, the median global stage was 2.0. During the administration of placebo, the average global stage was 4.0.
The Alzheimer's Deficit Scale is a psvchometric instrument that assigns numerical values from a (worst) to 100 (asymptomatic) to reAect the severity of Alzheimer's disease. Figure 2 shows the median scores on the Alzheimer's Deficit Scale before treatment, eluring oral THA treatment, and during placebo administration. The results on the Alz :::: [ *1** heimer's Deficit Scale were consis
8.0 ~ tent with the global assessment in that they showed significant improvement during oral THA ther ::f I Iapy, but not during placebo ad 2.0~ministration or before treatment. Figure 3 shows the median Orien BASELINE THA PLACEBO
show a significant change. Twelve subjects have encered
Phase HI, in which the effects of long-term administration of oral THA are being evaluated. As of this writing, the first subject has been taking oral THA Iljr 26 months; the average duration of oral THA administration is 12.6 months per patient (range, 3 to :/(i!. The degree of improvement has often been dramatic. One Sll bject was able to resume most of her homelllaking tasks, one was able to resume employment on a parttime basis, and one retired subject \vas able to resume playing golf daily. In other cases, there were improvements in activities of daily living, such as self-reeding at the family table, where (Otal care had previously been reg uired.
The toxic eDects of the study drug were also considered. THA is a monoamine acridine, which may be associated with hepatic, hematologic, and neurologic toxicity. Transient side effects in Phase I included nausea (six subjects), belching (two subjects), emesis (two subjects), excessive micturition (one subject), abdominal discomfort (two subjects), diarrhea (two subjects), and diaphoresis (three subjects). Thesc side ef~
fects were seen in only eight subjects, all of whom were
I ** ..
I I I I 1
BASELINE THA PLACEBO BASEL~E THA PLACEBO
ta tion Te t scores for the various ALL SUBJECTS ST AGE 3-4 SU8JECTS STAGE 5-6 SUBJECTStreatment conditions.
Table I gives the summary of Figure 3. Orientation Test Results. statistical comparisons for all four Median values and the 25th to 75th percentile limits are shown for three subgroups assessments used. The result of (~ denotes P<O.05, ** P<O,01, and ., P<O.001).
Table 1. Summary of Statistical Comparisons.' mental anticholinergic ~yndromes.IFl
ASSES$ME f AND PRE11l:E4TMEl'-T THA THERAPY
SUBGROUP VERSlI\ T'HA THERAPY VERSUS Pl.ACt:BO
Global assessment All slages P = 0.001 (17) P = 0.003 (13) Slage 3-4 P = 0.009 (10) P = 0.022 (8)
Stage - 6 P ~ 0.022 (7) ,S (5)
OrientAtion Test All slage, P = 0001 (17) P = 0004 (14) Slage 3-4 P = 0.006 (10) P = 0024 (9)
Stage 5-6 P = 0.022 (7) NS (5)
Names Learning Test All "ages P = 0.001 ( 17) I' = 0.001 (14) Stage 3-4 P = 0.006 (10) P = 0.033 (9)
Siage 5-6 NS (7) NS (5)
Alzheimer Deficit Scale All stages P = 0.001 (17) P = 0.003 (12) Siage 3-4 P = 0.006 (10) P = 0.022 (7) Slage 5-6 P = 0.022 (7) NS (5)
Synaptic cholincrgic enhallcemen t PRETREJITME r
hy use of muscarinic agonists has also resulted in improvements in
VERSUS PLACI;BO
learning and memory. 19,20 Recently, NS (8) Harbaugh et al. reponed the re~ults NS (5)
NS (13)
of a treatment in which bcthancehol, a quaternary ammonium com
NS (14) NS (9i pound that is unable to penetrate NS (5) the central nervous system \'liht'll
given systemically, was injected diNS (14) rectly into the cerebrospinal Auid by NS (9) NS (5\ a neurosurgical tt'chnique.:lO Betha
nechol, like other muscarinic agoNS (12) nists, has a low therapeutic index,NS (7)
NS (5) and as an unsubstituted carbamyl ester, it is totally resi~tant to hy
*Based on the Wilcoxon ma!ched·pair-.;. signed-rank tesl. NS denOrt5 n\.)( :'"lgmtic3nf (a [wo-railed P value >0.05), The drolysis by ei ther acetylcholine ornumbers of pairs compared are given ill par<:nthesC5,
receiving 150 to 200 mg of THA per day. In all cases, reduction of the dost, administration of oral glycopyrrolate (Robinul), or both, re ulted in disappearance of the side eITects. Four adverse events occurred durill,-" Phase III of the protocol, but none appeared to be caused by THA.
DISCUSSION
This was a large study of long-term palliative pharmacologic treatment of subjects with presumptive Alzheimer's di~ease. Although only 12 subjects have been enrolled in the long-term phase of this study, the results are encouraging, All four of the a~sessments
that were employed showed improvernenl on a regimen of oral THA, which is unusual in an illness that is considered to be progressive, with only rare plateaus at best. I The placebo data showed essentially a return to pretreatment status.
The action of THA is thought to be due principally to potent central nervous system anticholinestera~e
activity.13 However, because of the structural similarity of THA to 4-aminopyridillf" it is probable that THA also selectively blocks potassium channels in the central nervous system, which results in an increased release of acetylcholine and a prolongation of the action potential of the presynaptic cholinergic neurons. H
Other investigators have reported variable success with cholinergic enhancement in the central nervous system in subjects with Alzheimer's disease. The administration or more than 8 g of choline chloride or its equivalent for more than three weeks has produced moderate improvement in ubjects with carly Alzheimer's disease. 15,J6 Synaptic enhancement by intravenous or oral administration of the anticholinesterase physostigmine has shown some promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. 17 However, physostigmine has a lower therapeutic incJcx and a shorter duration of action than THA. 1:
s,;;.; Physostigmine is also Ie s eITective than THA in reversing exp ri
nonspecific cholinesterase. All (our patients in this single-blind study
had subjective improvement. The safety of such a technique remain to be demonstrated.
In the pilot study of intravenou' THA in 1981,9 of 12 subjects (75 percent) had improvement as as~essed
by global staging, a subjective measure8 Objcctive psychometric tests showed improvement in 7 of 9 and dramatic impro ement in 4 of 9. Tn the present study, 16 of the 17 subjects had subjective global improvement, and 10 of the 17 had dramatic objective improvement on psychometric testing.
The apparent improvements may have been due to better diagnostic techniques, specifically routine nucleLlr magnetic resonance scanning. Tbrec of the six SlI bj ects "vi thou t Alzheimer's disease in th is stud y would have been included as "probable Alzheimer's disease subjects" in the 1981 study. All three received THA in Phase I of the protocol, and none had improvement. A second possi ble basis for the better response in this study was the availability of a serum THA assay that was sensitive to 2 ng per milliliter. The earlier assays were sensitive only to 50 ng per milliliter, and because the therapeutic range of THA appears to be between 5 and 70 ng per milliliter, such assays were not clinically useful. Indeed, in Pha~e III, three subjects v\lith moderate to minimal improvement vvere found to have;' serum THA levels of less than 7 ng per milliliter. When the dose of THA was increased, the clinical response improved dramatically. Before serum THA as .. ays were available, a limit or 150 mg of oral THA per day was Sf:t arbitrarily. However, these thret subjects required 200 mg per day.
Prudence injudging these results is advised. THA is no more a cure for Alzheimer's disea~e thall levodopa is a cure for Parkinson's disease. Just as levodopa ceases to have efTects in patients in the fmal stages of Parkinson's disease, we anticipate that oral THA will cease to have effect· as Alzheimer'~ di ease prolrrc,ses 21 Indeed, two of our subjects have had some dClcrioration despite maintenance therapy with oral
TH A, olle aCter 17 months and lhe other after 7 mOllths of therapy. However, THA is .1 potential pallialive t r<:a lmen [.
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tfJCopyright. 1986. by the Massachusells Medical Society Prinled in the U_S.A.
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