Drug evaluation of huperzine A in the treatment of senile memory disorders

Huperzine A is an alkaloid which was first isolated from Huperzia serrata (Thumb) Trev by Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences and Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It exhibits a significant anticholinesterase activity and has been used on myasthenia gravis patients. The therapeutic effects were studied by random, match and double-blind method on 56 patients of multi-infarct dementia or senile dementia and 104 patients of senile and presenile simple memory disorders. The curative effects were evaluated by Wechsler memory scale. The im dose for multi-infarct dementia was 0.05 mg bid for 4 wk, whereas that for senile and presenile simple memory disorders was 0.03 mg bid for 2 wk. Saline was used on control group. The result showed that the curative effect of huperzine A was significant. Only a few patients felt slight dizziness and this did not affect the therapeutic effects.