BACKGROUND: Drug development for Alzheimer disease (AD) is challenged by the success in animal models tested in the Morris water maze (MWM) and the subsequent failures to meet primary outcome measures in phase II or III clinical trials in patients. The human variant of MWM (hMWM) enables us to examine allocentric and egocentric navigation as in the MWM. OBJECTIVE: It was the aim of this study to examine the utility of a computerized hMWM to assess the effects of donepezil in mild AD. METHODS: Donepezil 5 mg/day was started after initial hMWM testing in the treated group (n = 12), and after 28 days, the dose was increased to 10 mg/day. The performance after 3 months was compared to that of a non-treated group (n = 12). RESULTS: Donepezil stabilized or improved the spatial navigation performance after 3 months, especially in the allocentric delayed recall subtask (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The computerized hMWM has the potential to measure the effects of donepezil in mild AD. It is a sensitive cognitive outcome measure in AD clinical trials.
BACKGROUND: Drug development for Alzheimer disease (AD) is challenged by the success in animal models tested in the Morris water maze (MWM) and the subsequent failures to meet primary outcome measures in phase II or III clinical trials in patients. The human variant of MWM (hMWM) enables us to examine allocentric and egocentric navigation as in the MWM. OBJECTIVE: It was the aim of this study to examine the utility of a computerized hMWM to assess the effects of donepezil in mild AD. METHODS:Donepezil 5 mg/day was started after initial hMWM testing in the treated group (n = 12), and after 28 days, the dose was increased to 10 mg/day. The performance after 3 months was compared to that of a non-treated group (n = 12). RESULTS:Donepezil stabilized or improved the spatial navigation performance after 3 months, especially in the allocentric delayed recall subtask (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The computerized hMWM has the potential to measure the effects of donepezil in mild AD. It is a sensitive cognitive outcome measure in AD clinical trials.
Authors: Jan Laczó; Hana Markova; Veronika Lobellova; Ivana Gazova; Martina Parizkova; Jiri Cerman; Tereza Nekovarova; Karel Vales; Sylva Klovrzova; John Harrison; Manfred Windisch; Kamil Vlcek; Jan Svoboda; Jakub Hort; Ales Stuchlik Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2016-11-24 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Katerina Sheardova; Martin Vyhnalek; Zuzana Nedelska; Jan Laczo; Ross Andel; Rafal Marciniak; Jiri Cerman; Ondrej Lerch; Jakub Hort Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2019-12-18 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Georg M Kerbler; Zuzana Nedelska; Jurgen Fripp; Jan Laczó; Martin Vyhnalek; Jiří Lisý; Adam S Hamlin; Stephen Rose; Jakub Hort; Elizabeth J Coulson Journal: Front Aging Neurosci Date: 2015-09-28 Impact factor: 5.750