Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to validate the lower end of the putative therapeutic range of serum tacrine concentrations of 7-20 ng ml(-1) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: The relationship between dose, steady-state serum tacrine concentrations and change in MMSE s...

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Main Authors: Roberts, C, Ford, J, Truman, C, Scott, M, Mäkelä, P, Wilcock, G
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 1998
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author Roberts, C
Ford, J
Truman, C
Scott, M
Mäkelä, P
Wilcock, G
author_facet Roberts, C
Ford, J
Truman, C
Scott, M
Mäkelä, P
Wilcock, G
author_sort Roberts, C
collection OXFORD
description OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to validate the lower end of the putative therapeutic range of serum tacrine concentrations of 7-20 ng ml(-1) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: The relationship between dose, steady-state serum tacrine concentrations and change in MMSE score (a measure of cognitive function) was examined in 106 Alzheimer's disease patients who had been treated with the drug for 12 weeks. RESULTS: In all, 72% of patients showed some response, but there was no relationship between dose and the chance of a favourable outcome. The proportion of patients with serum concentrations above 7 ng x ml(-1) who improved (79%) was significantly greater than that of those with serum concentrations below this level (47%) (P < 0.02). Also, a significantly greater proportion of patients with serum concentrations above both 5 ng x ml(-1) and 9 ng x ml(-1) showed improvement in comparison to those with concentrations below these levels. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that therapeutic monitoring of serum tacrine concentrations might increase the possibility of responding to tacrine by some 68%. This represents an important contribution to the management of Alzheimer's disease patients with this drug, and may also be relevant to the use of the newer generation of cholinesterase inhibitors.
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spelling oxford-uuid:ed95a573-be2b-44fd-a2d2-42f40324d62d2022-03-27T11:26:11ZAssessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ed95a573-be2b-44fd-a2d2-42f40324d62dEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford1998Roberts, CFord, JTruman, CScott, MMäkelä, PWilcock, GOBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to validate the lower end of the putative therapeutic range of serum tacrine concentrations of 7-20 ng ml(-1) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: The relationship between dose, steady-state serum tacrine concentrations and change in MMSE score (a measure of cognitive function) was examined in 106 Alzheimer's disease patients who had been treated with the drug for 12 weeks. RESULTS: In all, 72% of patients showed some response, but there was no relationship between dose and the chance of a favourable outcome. The proportion of patients with serum concentrations above 7 ng x ml(-1) who improved (79%) was significantly greater than that of those with serum concentrations below this level (47%) (P < 0.02). Also, a significantly greater proportion of patients with serum concentrations above both 5 ng x ml(-1) and 9 ng x ml(-1) showed improvement in comparison to those with concentrations below these levels. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that therapeutic monitoring of serum tacrine concentrations might increase the possibility of responding to tacrine by some 68%. This represents an important contribution to the management of Alzheimer's disease patients with this drug, and may also be relevant to the use of the newer generation of cholinesterase inhibitors.
spellingShingle Roberts, C
Ford, J
Truman, C
Scott, M
Mäkelä, P
Wilcock, G
Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.
title Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.
title_full Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.
title_fullStr Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.
title_short Assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in Alzheimer's disease.
title_sort assessment of the value of therapeutic monitoring of tacrine in alzheimer s disease
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