| 11234910 |
Mega MS, Cummings JL, O'Connor SM, Dinov ID, Reback E, Felix J, Masterman DL, Phelps ME, Small GW, Toga AW: Cognitive and metabolic responses to metrifonate therapy in Alzheimer disease. Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychol Behav Neurol. 2001 Jan;14(1):63-8.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify the relation between the cognitive benefit seen with the cholinesterase inhibitor metrifonate and changes in brain metabolism as visualized with [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). BACKGROUND: The regional metabolic correlates of treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors are poorly understood. METHODS: Six patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease (AD) were evaluated before and after treatment with the long-lasting cholinesterase inhibitor metrifonate. Patients were given 60 or 80 mg of metrifonate per day (based on weight) for 6 to 12 weeks. Clinical evaluations included the cognitive portion of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Imaging was carried out using FDG-PET. The PET studies, registered to a probabilistic anatomic atlas, were normalized across the group's mean intensity levels and subjected to voxel-by-voxel subtraction of the posttreatment minus pretreatment studies. Subvolume thresholding corrected random lobar noise to produce a three-dimensional functional significance map. RESULTS: The criteria for cognitive improvement with treatment were met for the MMSE (> 2 points improvement from baseline), and the drawing subscale of the ADAS-cog was significantly improved with treatment. The three-dimensional significance map revealed a significant metabolic increase of the dorsolateral frontoparietal network on the left and bilateral temporal cortex with metrifonate treatment. CONCLUSION: The clinical benefits observed in AD with cholinesterase inhibitor therapy are associated with a metabolic increase of heteromodal cognitive and medial temporal networks. |
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