Home › Research › Cognitive tests and assessment
Nilvadipine in mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: A randomised controlled trial
Lawlor B, Segurado R, Kennelly S, Olde Rikkert MGM, Howard R, Pasquier F, Börjesson-Hanson A, Tsolaki M et al.. PLoS medicine, 2018-09-24
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background This study reports the findings of the first large-scale Phase III investigator-driven clinical trial to slow the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease with a dihydropyridine (DHP) calcium channel blocker, nilvadipine. Nilvadipine, licensed to treat hypertension, reduces amyloid production, increases regional cerebral blood flow, and has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-tau activity in preclinical studies, properties that could have disease-modifying effects for Alzheimer disease. We aimed to determine if nilvadipine was effective in slowing cognitive decline in subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.
Key findings
- Nilvadipine, licensed to treat hypertension, reduces amyloid production, increases regional cerebral blood flow, and has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-tau activity in preclinical studies, properties that could have disease-modifying effects for Alzheimer disease.
- We aimed to determine if nilvadipine was effective in slowing cognitive decline in subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.
- Methods and findings NILVAD was an 18-month, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial that randomised participants between 15 May 2013 and 13 April 2015.
- The study was conducted at 23 academic centres in nine European countries.
Why it matters
This large Phase III randomized controlled trial tested whether nilvadipine, a hypertension drug, could slow cognitive decline in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease over 18 months. It was designed to test a possible disease-modifying effect, but the available text does not report whether it worked.
Study details
- Participants577
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 74/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a large phase 3 trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 71 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 74 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (PLoS medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | PLoS Medicine: journal h-index 350 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A large phase 3 trial (from PubMed type “Clinical Trial, Phase III”) |
| 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 | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 577 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 | 2 / 2 | Randomised and blinded or placebo-controlled (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 192 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 19.2 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 16.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 14 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 46 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 39 institution(s) in 10 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30248105) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 71 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 71 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 74 out of 100. |
| Total | 74 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002660
- PubMed: 30248105
- Original source →
- Free full text: PLoS Medicine →
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. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Lawlor, B., Segurado, R., Kennelly, S., Olde Rikkert, M. G. M., Howard, R., Pasquier, F., et al. (2018). Nilvadipine in mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: A randomised controlled trial. PLoS medicine. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002660
Vancouver
Lawlor B, Segurado R, Kennelly S, Olde Rikkert MGM, Howard R, Pasquier F, et al. Nilvadipine in mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: A randomised controlled trial. PLoS medicine. 2018. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002660. PMID: 30248105.
BibTeX
@article{lawlor2018-30248105,
author = {Lawlor, B. and Segurado, R. and Kennelly, S. and Olde Rikkert, M. G. M. and Howard, R. and Pasquier, F. and Börjesson-Hanson, A. and Tsolaki, M. and others},
title = {{Nilvadipine in mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: A randomised controlled trial}},
journal = {PLoS medicine},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pmed.1002660},
pmid = {30248105},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002660}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
14 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Cognitive tests and assessment
Also tagged “double-blind”
783 studies in the library carry the topic tag “double-blind”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 783 tagged studies.