Effect and Safety of Huannao Yicong Formula (还脑益聪方) in Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Donepezil-Controlled Trial

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2019-08, Vol.25 (8), p.574-581
• Main Authors: Yang, Yang, Liu, Jian-ping, Fang, Jun-yan, Wang, Hui-chan, Wei, Yun, Cao, Yu, Liu, Jian-gang, Liu, Long-tao, Li, Hao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetylcholinesterase - blood; Alzheimer Disease - blood; Alzheimer Disease - drug therapy; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Amyloid beta-Peptides - blood; Cognition; Donepezil - therapeutic use; Double-Blind Method; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-018-3054-7

Objective To assess the effect and safety of Huannao Yicong Formula (还脑益聪方, HYF) in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods Sixty patients with mild-tomoderate AD were evenly randomized into HYF group and donepezil group with the random number method. Patients in the HYF group took 5 g of HYF granules twice daily and 5 mg placebo of donepezil once daily. Patients in the donepezil group took 5 mg donepezil once daily and 5 g placebo of HYF granules twice daily. The intervention lasted for 6 months. Clinical researchers, participants and statisticians were blinded to the treatment assignment throughout the study. The primary outcomes were scores of Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog) and Chinese Medicine Symptom Scale (CM-SS). The secondary outcomes were scores of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test and Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). The serum levels of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and amyloid-β protein 42 (Aβ 42 ) were detected with enzymelinked immunosorbent assay kits. The scale assessments were conducted at baseline, the 3rd and 6th months of treatment, respectively. Biochemistry tests were conducted at baseline and the 6th month of treatment. Results A total of 52 patients completed the trial, 28 in HYF group and 24 in donepezil group. Compared with the baseline, HYF and donepezil signifificantly decreased the total scores of ADAS-Cog and CM-SS, and signifificantly increased the scores of MoCA and MMSE after 6-month treatment (all P