An Overview of Combination Treatment with Citicoline in Dementia.

INTRODUCTION: The present article reports an overview of the studies about combination treatment with citicoline of Alzheimer's (AD) and mixed dementia (MD).

METHODS: A Medline search was carried out by using the keywords Alzheimer's dementia, mixed dementia, older people, treatment with citicoline, memantine, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEIs).

RESULTS: Six studies were found to match the combination treatment of citicoline with AcheIs and/or memantine. The CITIRIVAD and CITICHOLINAGE studies were the first to report the potential benefits of adding citicoline to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEIs). Then, we added citicoline to memantine in the CITIMEM study, and finally, we demonstrated benefits in terms of delay in cognitive worsening with the triple therapy (citicoline + AchEIs + memantine). Other authors also reinforced our hypothesis through two further studies.

CONCLUSIONS: Open, prospective studies are advised to confirm the utility of combination therapy with citicoline for the treatment of AD and MD.