Selective Ability of Some CANTAB Battery Test Measures to Detect Cognitive Response to a Single Dose of Donepezil in Alzheimer Disease

Source of support: Departmental sources Background: The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) was used to explore which tests and their measures are able to detect cognitive change after a single dose of donepezil in Alzheimer disease (AD) patients. The aim of this study was to establish the ability of CANTAB tests and their measures to detect cog-nitive change after a single 5-mg dose of donepezil in treatment-naïve AD patients. Material/Methods: We enrolled 62 treatment-naïve AD patients and 30 healthy controls in this prospective, randomized, rat-er-blinded study. AD patients were randomized to 2 groups: the AD+ group received donepezil after the first CANTAB testing and the AD – group remained treatment-naïve at second testing. The time period between re-peated testing was 4 hours. Parallel versions of CRT, SOC, PAL, SWM, and PRM tests were used. Results: All groups did not differ according to age, education, gender, or depression (p>0.05). AD+ and AD – groups did not differ according to MMSE. SOC, PAL, PRM, and SWM tests distinguished AD from controls. Eight measures of PAL and PRM had a strong correlation with MMSE (r>0.7). Repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc test showed the difference of change in AD+ and AD – groups between first and second CANTAB testing in 7 PAL measures. AD+ and AD – groups differed in the second testing by 7 PAL measures. Four PAL measures differed in first and second testing within the AD+ group