Data from a large multicenter study demonstrate that donepezil can delay the rate of progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer disease in patients with depressive symptoms, but not in individuals without notable depression. How important are these findings for clinical practice in neurology and psychiatry?
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Petersen, R. C. et al. Vitamin E and donepezil for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment. N. Engl. J. Med. 352, 2379–2388 (2005).
Lu, P. H. et al. Donepezil delays progression to AD in MCI subjects with depressive symptoms. Neurology 72, 2115–2121 (2009).
Birks, J. & Flicker, L. Donepezil for mild cognitive impairment. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3. Art No.: CD006104. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006104 (2006).
Raschetti, R., Albanese, E., Vanacore, N. & Maggini, M. Cholinesterase inhibitors in mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review of randomised trials. PLoS Med. 4, e338 (2007).
Barnes, D. E., Alexopoulos, G. S., Lopez, O. L., Williamson, J. D. & Yaffe, K. Depressive symptoms, vascular disease and mild cognitive impairment. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 63, 273–279 (2006).
Panza, F. et al. Depressive symptoms, vascular risk factors and mild cognitive impairment. The Italian longitudinal study on aging. Dement. Geriatr. Cogn. Disord. 25, 336–346 (2008).
Ravaglia, G. et al. Prevalent depressive symptoms as a risk factor for conversion to mild cognitive impairment in an elderly Italian cohort. Am. J. Geriatr. Psychiatry 16, 834–843 (2008).
Feldman, H. H. et al. Effect of rivastigmine on delay to diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease from mild cognitive impairment: the InDDEx study. Lancet Neurol. 6, 501–512 (2007).
Holmes, C. et al. The efficacy of donepezil in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer disease. Neurology 63, 214–219 (2004).
Katona, C. et al. International Psychogeriatric Association consensus statement on defining and measuring treatment benefits in dementia. Int. Psychogeriatr. 19, 345–354 (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
C. Katona has acted on the speaker's bureau for Boehringer Ingelheim, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Lundbeck and Novartis. He has also acted as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Lundbeck, and received research support from the latter.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Katona, C. Does depression predict donepezil response in MCI?. Nat Rev Neurol 5, 585–586 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2009.164
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2009.164
This article is cited by
-
Cholinergic regulation of mood: from basic and clinical studies to emerging therapeutics
Molecular Psychiatry (2019)