Sustained improvements in patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) 6 months after termination of Cerebrolysin therapy

Summary.

The present study is an extension of the work of Rüther et al. (1994). 101 patients suffering from DAT were evaluated 6 months after completion of a 4 week (5 days per week) therapy with either 30 ml Cerebrolysin or placebo. The significant and clinically relevant improvements in the global rating (CGI), clinical symptomatology (SCAG), cognitive performance (ZVT-G) as primary efficacy variables, as well as the improvements in the secondary efficacy variables activities of daily living (NAI) and wellbeing (Bf-S), achieved in the Cerebrolysin group after only 4 weeks of active therapy, were maintained to a large extent during the follow-up period. Although there was a moderate tendency in the drug group towards loss of improvement, the differences between baseline and follow-up examination, as well as the differences between the verum and the placebo group, clearly document a sustained improvement in patients treated with Cerebrolysin in the first 4 weeks of the study period. It can be speculated that relatively short treatment courses with Cerebrolysin in patients suffering from neurodegenerative dementia can lead to long term influence on disease progression, which is in accordance with the proposed neurotrophic – nerve growth factor like – mode of action.