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[Clinical efficacy and safety of akatinol memantine in treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: a donepezil-controlled, randomized trial]
Hu HT, Zhang ZX, Yao JL, Yu HZ, Wang YH, Tang HC, Ji CJ, Xu T.. Zhonghua nei ke za zhi, 2006-04-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of akatinol memantine in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods One hundred patients with diagnosis of possible or probable AD and Mini Mental State Examination total scores between 10 and 26 from 6 centers in two cities of China were randomly divided into two groups: akatinol memantine group (n = 50, given akatinol memantine 5 mg/d in first week, 10 mg/d in second week, 15 mg/d in third week and 20 mg/d from fourth to sixteenth week); donepezil group (n = 50, donepezil 5 mg/d). Different scales were used to evaluated cognitive function (MMSE), activity of daily life and behavior and mood (Blessed-Roth scale) as well as the severity of dementia (GDS). Safety evaluation was conducted every 4 weeks. Results In comparison with the baseline data, there were significant improvements in cognition assessed with MMSE on 16th week in akatinol memantine group (P = 0.000) and donepezil group (P = 0.000) respectively; There also were significant improvements in activity of daily life, behavior and mood assessed by Blessed-Roth scale in akatinol memantine group (P = 0.000) and donepezil group (P = 0.000) on 8th week and 16th week. However there was no improvements in the change of the basic habit of life assessed with the Part II of Blessed-Roth scale (P > 0.05), and nor an improvements in the serious level of dementia assessed with GDS (P > 0.05). In comparison with the data in donepezil group, there were no improvement in the change of MMSE score, Blessed-Roth scale score and GDS score in akatinol memantine group on 16th week (P > 0.05). Mild and transient adverse events were observed in 6% of akatinol memantine group. Conclusion As a safe and effective medicine, akatinol memantine, which has a similar effect as donepezil for AD, can remarkably improve the cognition, behavior, and mood of AD patients.
Key findings
- Results In comparison with the baseline data, there were significant improvements in cognition assessed with MMSE on 16th week in akatinol memantine group (P = 0.000) and donepezil group (P = 0.000) respectively; There also were significant improvements in activity of daily life, behavior and mood assessed by Blessed-Roth scale in akatinol memantine group (P = 0.000) and donepezil group (P = 0.000) on 8th week and 16th week.
Why it matters
In this 100-patient trial, akatinol memantine and donepezil both improved cognition and daily life measures in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease over 16 weeks. This shows symptom improvement with both drugs, not a cure or prevention of the disease.
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Study details
- Participants50
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 47/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 45 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 47 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Zhonghua nei ke za zhi) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2006 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 50 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 7 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.3 citations a year over 22 year(s) since 2006 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Tao Xu: h-index 27 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: institution h-index 950 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16780671) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 45 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 45 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 47 out of 100. |
| Total | 47 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
May need a subscription Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 10 Oct 2026), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. This record has no DOI, so the citation leaves it out. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hu, H. T., Zhang, Z. X., Yao, J. L., Yu, H. Z., Wang, Y. H., Tang, H. C., et al. (2006). [Clinical efficacy and safety of akatinol memantine in treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: a donepezil-controlled, randomized trial]. Zhonghua nei ke za zhi.
Vancouver
Hu HT, Zhang ZX, Yao JL, Yu HZ, Wang YH, Tang HC, et al. [Clinical efficacy and safety of akatinol memantine in treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: a donepezil-controlled, randomized trial]. Zhonghua nei ke za zhi. 2006. PMID: 16780671.
BibTeX
@article{hu2006-16780671,
author = {Hu, H. T. and Zhang, Z. X. and Yao, J. L. and Yu, H. Z. and Wang, Y. H. and Tang, H. C. and Ji, C. J. and Xu, T.},
title = {{[Clinical efficacy and safety of akatinol memantine in treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: a donepezil-controlled, randomized trial]}},
journal = {Zhonghua nei ke za zhi},
year = {2006},
pmid = {16780671}
}
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