L-DEPRENYL AND PHYSOSTIGMINE FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The present study evaluated the safety of and obtained preliminary dat a on the cognitive effects of L-deprenyl and physostigmine in patients with Alzheimer's Disease. Seventeen outpatients with Alzheimer's Dise ase participated in a double-blind crossover study in which they recei ved 4 weeks of L-deprenyl at a dose of 10 mg p.o., q.d., and 4 weeks o f placebo in random order. During both the L-deprenyl and placebo peri ods, patients received cognitive assessments during physostigmine (0.5 mg) and placebo infusions separated by 2 days. The cognitive effects of these agents alone and in combination were measured with digit span , verbal fluency, list learning, praxis, delayed recall, and delayed r ecognition tasks. Fifteen patients completed the study. The two drugs, used alone or in combination, were safe and well tolerated. Analyses of variance demonstrated that neither physostigmine nor L-deprenyl, wh ether given alone or in combination, significantly improved cognition, when compared with the double placebo condition.