Different clinical effect of four antidementia drugs for Alzheimer's disease patients depending on white matter severity.

AIM: To examine the clinical effect of four antidementia drugs (donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine) in Alzheimer's disease patients who were divided into subgroups based on their periventricular hyperintensity (PVH) severity.

METHODS: A total of 551 Alzheimer's disease patients (201 men and 350 women) were divided into four subgroups based on their PVH severity (0-III). They received monotherapy for 12 months. We compared the clinical effects at the baseline, and at 3, 6 and 12 months after initiation.

RESULTS: The baseline age became higher with PVH grades, and the Mini-Mental State Examination and Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised showed a decrease that was dependent on white matter severity. Although the PVH 0 subgroup showed stable cognitive, affective and ADL functions until 12 months in all four drug groups, the PVH I subgroup showed an improved Apathy Scale from the baseline in response to memantine at 3 and 9 months (P < 0.05), and galantamine at 9 months (P < 0.01). In the PVH II subgroup, the Mini-Mental State Examination showed a significant improvement from the baseline in response to galantamine (P < 0.05) at 9 months and Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised (P < 0.05) at 3 months. In the PVH III subgroup, cognitive and affective functions were preserved in all four drug groups until 12 months, but activities of daily living deteriorated in the riverstigmine group at 6 and 12 months (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that these four drugs showed sensitivity dependent on white matter severity that clinically affected cognitive, affective and activities of daily living functions. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1991-1999.