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Efficacy and safety of galantamine treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Review Article
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Abstract

Cholinesterase inhibitors treatment is considered as a common therapeutic approach for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by numerous reported studies, but the role of currently available drugs for AD is still controversial. Our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of galantamine for the treatment of AD, and provide the basis and reference for clinical rational drug use. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of galantamine for AD published up to April 30, 2014 were searched. A random or fixed-effect model was used to analyze outcomes which were expressed as risk ratios (RRs) or mean difference (MD) with a 95 % confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed by Q test and I 2 statistic. The outcome measurements were as follows: the changes of Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Clinicians’ Interview-Based Impression of Change with Caregiver’s Input (CIBIC+), adverse effects and dropouts. Eleven articles with 4,074 participants were included. Administration of galantamine for 8–28 weeks (16–40 mg daily) led to significant improvements in ADAS-cog score [P < 0.00001, MD = −2.95, 95 % CI (−3.32, −2.57)], MMSE score [P = 0.003, MD = 2.50, 95 % CI (0.86, 4.15)], NPI score [P = 0.001, MD = −1.58, 95 % CI (−2.54, −0.62)], and CIBIC+ scale [P < 0.00001, RR = 1.26, 95 % CI (1.15, 1.39)], but not in ADL score [P = 0.43, MD = 0.71, 95 % CI (−1.07, 2.48)]. More adverse events and dropouts occurred in the galantamine group than that in the placebo group, the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Galantamine could significantly improve cognitive, behavioral, and global performances in patients with AD. In addition, we need to use it with caution in the clinical treatment.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30973162; No. 81302738).

Conflict of interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, Zhu Jiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510282, People’s Republic of China

    Deqi Jiang, Xiujuan Yang, Mingxing Li, Yan Wang & Yong Wang

  2. Department of Biopharmaceutical, Yulin Normal University, Yulin, 537000, People’s Republic of China

    Deqi Jiang

Authors
  1. Deqi Jiang
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  2. Xiujuan Yang
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  3. Mingxing Li
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  4. Yan Wang
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  5. Yong Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yong Wang.

Additional information

D. Jiang and X. Yang contributed equally to this work.

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Jiang, D., Yang, X., Li, M. et al. Efficacy and safety of galantamine treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Neural Transm 122, 1157–1166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1358-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1358-0

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