1.
Effects of vitamin D supplementation on cognitive function and blood Aβ-related biomarkers in older adults with Alzheimer's disease: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Jia, J, Hu, J, Huo, X, Miao, R, Zhang, Y, Ma, F
Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 2019;(12):1347-1352
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Our study aimed to assess the effect of a 12-month vitamin D supplementation on cognitive function and amyloid beta (Aβ)-related biomarkers in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS : This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. 210 AD patients were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. Participants received 12-month 800 IU/day of vitamin D or starch granules as placebo. Tests of cognitive performance and Aβ-related biomarkers were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. RESULTS : Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant improvements in plasma Aβ42, APP, BACE1, APPmRNA, BACE1mRNA (p<0.001) levels and information, arithmetic, digit span, vocabulary, block design and picture arrange scores (p<0.05) in the intervention group over the control group. According to mixed-model analysis, vitamin D group had significant increase in full scale IQ during follow-up period (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Daily oral vitamin D supplementation (800 IU/day) for 12 months may improve cognitive function and decrease Aβ-related biomarkers in elderly patients with AD. Larger scale longer term randomised trials of vitamin D are needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ChiCTR-IIR-16009549.
2.
Effects of 12-month, double-blind N-acetyl cysteine on symptoms, cognition and brain morphology in early phase schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Breier, A, Liffick, E, Hummer, TA, Vohs, JL, Yang, Z, Mehdiyoun, NF, Visco, AC, Metzler, E, Zhang, Y, Francis, MM
Schizophrenia research. 2018;:395-402
Abstract
BACKGROUND Currently approved medications for schizophrenia are relatively ineffective for negative symptoms and cognitive impairment. N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is a neuroprotective agent that improved general symptoms, cognitive impairment and negative symptoms in some but not all studies, but failed to improve positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Progressive brain mass loss (PBML) has been consistently observed in early phase schizophrenia. NAC mitigates the deleterious effects oxidative stress, inflammation and glutamatergic excitotoxicity and these three pathological processes are hypothesized to contribute to PBML. METHODS In this study, we assessed the effects NAC (3600mg/day) in a 52-week, double-blind, placebo controlled trial on symptoms, and cognition in early phase schizophrenia spectrum disorders (N=60). In the context of the clinical trial, we explored the effects of NAC on brain morphology. RESULTS NAC significantly improved (time×group) PANSS total (F=14.7, p<0.001), negative (F=5.1, p=0.024) and disorganized thought (F=13.7, p<0.001) symptom scores. NAC failed to improve PANSS positive symptoms and BACS cognitive scores. In preliminary analyses, baseline right (r=-0.48, p=0.041) and left (r=-0.45, p=0.018) total cortical thickness, and thickness in other cortical regions, were associated with NAC related improvement in PANSS total scores, but NAC, as compared to placebo, did not significantly impact brain morphology over the study treatment period. CONCLUSIONS These results replicate some but not all previous findings of NAC efficacy. Preliminary results suggest that NAC's symptom effects may be related to structural integrity, but NAC failed to demonstrate treatment effects on longitudinal measures of brain morphology. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01339858.
3.
The effect of creatine and coenzyme q10 combination therapy on mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.
Li, Z, Wang, P, Yu, Z, Cong, Y, Sun, H, Zhang, J, Zhang, J, Sun, C, Zhang, Y, Ju, X
European neurology. 2015;(3-4):205-211
Abstract
BACKGROUND To investigate the effect of creatine and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) combination therapy on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's disease (PD; PD-MCI) and its influences on plasma phospholipid (PL) levels in PD-MCI. METHODS The demographic data of 75 PD-MCI patients who enrolled in this collaborative PD study were collected. These patients were evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) III and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). These 75 PD-MCI patients were randomly treated with creatine monohydrate 5 g b.i.d. and CoQ10 100 mg t.i.d. orally or placebo. MoCA evaluation and PL level measurements were performed after 12 and 18 months of treatment. RESULTS After 12 and 18 months of treatment, the differences in the MoCA scores of the combination therapy and control groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05 at 12 months and p < 0.01 at 18 months), and the plasma PL levels of the combination therapy group were significantly lower than those of the control group (p < 0.01 at 12 months and p < 0.001 at 18 months). CONCLUSIONS Combination therapy with creatine and CoQ10 could delay the decline of cognitive function in PD-MCI patients and could lower their plasma PL levels; therefore, this combination therapy may have a neuroprotective function.