Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

The aim is to assess the relationship between levels of IGF-I system components and cognitive status in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), in elderly subjects with normal cognitive function, and in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

This is a study to evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of low-rate continuous Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) sampling and to estimate the number of participants who exhibit severe baseline instability of CSF amyloid beta isoform Aß40 concentrations in healthy participants.

To compare the relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetic characteristics of a newly developed donepezil formulation with a conventional formulation in healthy subjects with a single dose, randomized, open-label, 2-sequence -2period crossover study.

This investigation is designed to study how the brain functions when it is performing explicit memory tasks, and furthermore how the brain systems supporting performance on these tests change as a function of aging. Implicit memory tasks may be distinguished from explicit memory tests in that explicit memory characterizes the directed or intentional recollection of previously learned information or events. In contrast, implicit (or nonconscious) memory is expressed in the facilitation of performance on some task or judgment on a stimulus owing to a prior presentation of that stimulus, without any necessary conscious awareness of the prior presentation. The investigators propose to use functional Magnetic resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity during the performance of carefully designed explicit memory tasks. Comparison of brain activity during the different test conditions will provide information about the brain areas that are involved in mediating specific aspects of performance. Both older and younger individuals will be tested in order to understand age related changes in the brain activity. In order to examine the interactions between participants' differential levels of amyloid burden and their performance on cognitive tasks and fMRI neural activation, the investigators also propose PET imaging of older participants.

The investigators plan to see what factors can influence the durability of Exelon patch treatment in Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease. Based on these results, the investigators will find the ways to maximize the effect and durability of Exelon patch on Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease. After finishing this study, the investigators are going to present the study results at the international and national academic meetings or conferences. Also the investigators expect that they can publish the result in a journal of in the field of neurology or dementia till the winter of 2010.

Cognitive and memory disorders are characterized of Alzheimer disease. In addition, psychologic and behavioural symptoms, called speak neuropsychiatric symptoms, are frequents and play an important role in prognostic and intervention. These symptoms are noticed before the diagnostic of dementia, their prevalence and their intensity increase with the evolution of disease. Apathy, which is characterized by a decrease of motivation, is the most frequent of this behaviour disrupt. Clinically, a decrease, or a totally, lack of interest, initiative and blunting emotional are noticed. Fundamentally, apathy is considered as a decrease of cognition and behaviour to "go in goal". Assessment of psychological and behavioural symptoms is realised principally with neuropsychiatric scales. These contribute to obtain particular informations about health of patient allowing by patient and caregiver discussions and impressions of clinician. These scales are simples but loss of subjectivity. An alternative of this method is the use of gerontechnology as actigraphy (system out-patient which records locomotive activity with the help of piezo-electrical sensor fixed on a bracelet) and video recording which is associated to an informatic treatment of signal in order event recognition. The aim of study is to realise an objective assessment of activities "go in goal" during experimental sequence which has well-characterized acts, using at the same time an actigraphic record of activity "motive" (system of assessment indirect of apathy fit) and a video records which uses an informatic event recognition system. The assessment will realise with participants controls (n=30) and Alzheimer disease patients with (n=20) or without (n=20) apathy, during well-characterized records. The final aim is to obtain a particular assessment of some disorders behaviours, as apathy, which is principally characterize by a decrease of behaviours "to go in goal".

This study will investigate the volume, function and composition of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning technology in participants with memory complaints or early signs of Alzheimer's pathology.

This project will focus on the development and testing of efficient, cost effective measures that are specifically designed for use in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) primary prevention trials.

Pharmacological treatment of AD is currently based on cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEI) and memantine, which have been shown to lead to modest, although effective, clinical benefits. Donepezil is a ChEI metabolized through the cytochrome P (CYP) 450, primarily by the 3A4 and 2D6 isoforms. The CYP2D6 gene presents polymorphisms that can alter its expression. The plasma therapeutic level ranges from 30 to 75 ng/mL, and 50% of acetylcholinesterase inhibition is achieved when the concentration reaches 15.6 ng/mL. An optimal plasma level is greater than 50 ng/mL. These polymorphisms may influence the individual's response to treatment with donepezil and the concentration of the drug in AD patients, without achieving the desired effect. However, most of the individuals are EM, i.e., the metabolism of the drug occurs according to the expected kinetics and is associated with the presence of one or two wild-type alleles. Objective: investigate the pattern of clinical response to donepezil in a group of patients with AD and AD with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in relation to the plasmatic concentration of donepezil and polymorphisms of the CYP2D6 and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genes.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two of the most common types of age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Identifying at-risk patients and gauging disease progression in a non-invasive manner would be invaluable. Early and correct diagnosis is crucial for coordinating supportive care, patient expectations, caregiver arrangements and family planning. In addition, as treatments become available, beginning therapy early in the disease before symptoms become severe will be important. Multimodal ocular imaging (MOI) includes an ophthalmic (eye) exam and eye photographs to evaluate different layers of the retina, which is the light sensing layer of the eye. Newer technologies make it possible to visualize the disease process occurring in AD and FTD by using MOI to look at the retina, since the retina is fundamentally an outward extension of the brain itself. This study will attempt to correlate signs of disease in the retina, as determined by MOI, with plaque buildup in the brain as seen by imaging. This will demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of MOI for diagnosing AD and FTD in a noninvasive manner.