Home › Research › Inflammation and the immune system
Clinical trials of new drugs for Alzheimer disease
Huang LK, Chao SP, Hu CJ.. Journal of biomedical science, 2020-01-06
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer disease (AD) accounts for 60-70% of dementia cases. Given the seriousness of the disease and continual increase in patient numbers, developing effective therapies to treat AD has become urgent. Presently, the drugs available for AD treatment, including cholinesterase inhibitors and an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, can only inhibit dementia symptoms for a limited period of time but cannot stop or reverse disease progression.
Key findings
- Given the seriousness of the disease and continual increase in patient numbers, developing effective therapies to treat AD has become urgent.
- Presently, the drugs available for AD treatment, including cholinesterase inhibitors and an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, can only inhibit dementia symptoms for a limited period of time but cannot stop or reverse disease progression.
- On the basis of the amyloid hypothesis, many global drug companies have conducted many clinical trials on amyloid clearing therapy but without success.
- Thus, the amyloid hypothesis may not be completely feasible.
Why it matters
This review states that currently available Alzheimer's drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors and an NMDA receptor antagonist, can only inhibit symptoms for a limited time and cannot stop or reverse disease progression. It reports no new treatment, cure or prevention.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of biomedical science) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of Biomedical Science: journal h-index 151 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 683 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 85.4 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 62.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 20 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 192 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Chaur‐Jong Hu: h-index 48 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | National Health Research Institutes: institution h-index 346 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 31906949) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1186/s12929-019-0609-7
- PubMed: 31906949
- Original source →
- Free full text: Journal of Biomedical Science →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Huang, L. K., Chao, S. P., & Hu, C. J. (2020). Clinical trials of new drugs for Alzheimer disease. Journal of biomedical science. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-019-0609-7
Vancouver
Huang LK, Chao SP, Hu CJ. Clinical trials of new drugs for Alzheimer disease. Journal of biomedical science. 2020. doi:10.1186/s12929-019-0609-7. PMID: 31906949.
BibTeX
@article{huang2020-31906949,
author = {Huang, L. K. and Chao, S. P. and Hu, C. J.},
title = {{Clinical trials of new drugs for Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {Journal of biomedical science},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1186/s12929-019-0609-7},
pmid = {31906949},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-019-0609-7}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 21.
Later studies that cite this one
20 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Inflammation and the immune system
Also in Inflammation and the immune system
138 studies in the library are filed under Inflammation and the immune system with no topic tag they share with another; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed tour of them. The Inflammation and the immune system hub.