| Research Abstract |
A Japanese herbal medicine "Kami-Untan-To (KUT)" was first described in Japanese literature in 1626. KUT is composed of 13 different herbs, and has been used for a long time in the treatment of a variety of neuropsychiatric problems including depression and insomnia. Recently, Yabe et al. Have demonstrated that KUT increased both choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and NGF at the protein and mRNA levels in cultured rat brain cells. Moreover, the same research group has reported that KUT improved mean latency on passive avoidance test in both basal forebrain lesioned and aged rats. KUT significantly improved the survival rate, and increased the number of ChAT-positive neurons in aged rats. Here, we report 12 months open clinical trials of KUT and a combination of estrogen, vitamin-E and NSAID to aim at slowing down the progression of AD. Twenty AD patients (MMSE score : 18.6【minus-plus】5.8) were receiving extracts from original KUT herbs, and 7 AD patients (MMSE score : 21.3【minus-plus】2.8) were placed on the combination therapy. Rate of cognitive decline as measured by group (1.4 point) and the combination group (1.5 point) as compared to 4.1 point in 32 control AD patient (MMSE score : 20.8【minus-plus】5.6) who received no medicines tested in the therapies for AD. Notably, CSF-ChAT levels were significantly (p=0.005, n=6) reduced following the KUT therapy. The efficacy of the KUT was most obvious at 3-month point. Our results suggest that traditional Japanese herbal medicines may serve a new intervention strategy for AD.
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