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Galantamine for Alzheimer's disease
David Prvulovic, Harald Hampel, Johannes Pantel. Expert opinion on drug metabolism & toxicology, 2010-03
Topic: Drug trials: efficacy and safety
IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent, age-related neurodegenerative disorder and is characterized by progressive deterioration of cognition and global functioning. The relevance of the cholinergic system for memory, cognition and activities of daily life has been recognized decades ago, and research has demonstrated an early involvement and affection of central cholinergic pathways in the course of AD. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Here, we review a body of placebo-controlled studies as well as meta-analyses on the cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitor galantamine, one of only four drugs currently approved for anti-dementia therapy in AD. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: The scope of this article is to concisely review the rationale of cholinergic treatment in AD, the chemistry and pharmacology of galantamine and to give a detailed overview of its clinical efficacy, safety, tolerability and potential usability for indications beyond AD. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Galantamine can improve and stabilize cognitive performance, activities of daily living and behavioral symptoms over the course of 6 months and its efficacy and tolerability are comparable with those of other ChE inhibitors (rivastigmine and donepezil). As long as no other drug therapies with comparable or better clinical efficacy emerge, galantamine will remain one of the standard first-line medications for mild-to-moderate AD.
Key findings
- The relevance of the cholinergic system for memory, cognition and activities of daily life has been recognized decades ago, and research has demonstrated an early involvement and affection of central cholinergic pathways in the course of AD.
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Study details
- Study designmeta-analysis
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 66/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 37 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 66 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Expert opinion on drug metabolism & toxicology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 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 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20113148) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 37 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 37 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 66 out of 100. |
| Total | 66 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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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
Prvulovic, D., Hampel, H., & Pantel, J. (2010). Galantamine for Alzheimer's disease. Expert opinion on drug metabolism & toxicology. https://doi.org/10.1517/17425251003592137
Vancouver
Prvulovic D, Hampel H, Pantel J. Galantamine for Alzheimer's disease. Expert opinion on drug metabolism & toxicology. 2010. doi:10.1517/17425251003592137. PMID: 20113148.
BibTeX
@article{prvulovic2010-20113148,
author = {Prvulovic, David and Hampel, Harald and Pantel, Johannes},
title = {{Galantamine for Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Expert opinion on drug metabolism \& toxicology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1517/17425251003592137},
pmid = {20113148},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1517/17425251003592137}
}