Most common diseases of 50 plus - Diseases of Central Nervous system(CNS): Dementia - Herbal Treatments: Huperzine A

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         Diseases of Central Nervous system

                           Dementia

About 5-8% of all people over the age of 65 have some form of dementia, and this number doubles every five years above that age. Dementia is the loss of mental ability, severe enough to interfere with people's every life and Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia in aging people.

V. Treatments
A. In herbal medicine perspective
4. Huperzine A
Huperzine A, a chemical made from the plant Huperzia serrata have been studied for its effect on patient of dementia with conflict results
1. Cognitive effects
In induced Alzheimer's disease animal study, Huperzine A showed a significant effect in  inhibited acetylcholinesterase, derived from forebrain, hippocampus, cortex and cerebellum(635), through neuron protective effects and enhanced glutamatergic functions(635). In mild to moderate vascular dementia (VaD) patients, The medicine also improved the cognitive function with serious adverse events(636). But according to University of California,, in a phase II trial of huperzine A, regardless to doses, huperzine A did not demonstrate cognitive effect in patients with mild to moderate AD(637). According to Beijing University of Chinese Medicinealthough Huperzine A showed a beneficial effects on improvement of cognitive function, daily living activity in global clinical assessment in participants with Alzheimer's disease, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to the poor methodological quality of the included trials(638).

b. Inhibitiobn of amyloid plaque burden and oligomeric β-amyloid (Aβ)
Huperzine A, showed to reduce in Aβ levels and Aβ burden in AD brain, through activation of  Wnt signaling(regulate cell-to-cell interactions) and targeting of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in various components in contribution to disease, (639), modulation of amyloidogenic and nonamyloidogenic pathways(640), reduction of iron in the brain(641) via a multi-target mechanism(642).


c. Mild to moderate vascular dementia (VaD) and Alzheimer's disease
In patients with mild to moderate vascular dementia (VaD), Huperzine A significantly improve the cognitive function in mini-mental state examination (MMSE), clinical dementia rating (CDR), and activities of daily living (ADL) scores(643)(644).
In patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), Huperzine A also showed improvement in memory function and cognitive enhancement at a dose of 0.4 mg using MMSE, MQ, ADAS-COG, and ADL tests(645); against organophosphate (OP) intoxication and  reduction of glutamate-induced cell death(646). According to Georgetown University Hospital, the antioxidant and neuroprotective properties of Huperzine A suggest that it may be useful as a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD)(647).
Due to data supporting its use are limited by weak study design, theMassachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences-Worcester/Manchester suggested that randomized, placebo-controlled trials are necessary to establish the role of huperzine A in the treatment of AD(648).


d. Etc.

References
(635) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9141073
(636) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21833673
(637) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21502597
(638) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24086396
(639) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Huperzine+A+Wnt%2F%CE%B2-catenin+signaling+pathway
(640) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22002568
(641) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24332448
(642) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15956816
(643) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Huperzine+A+and+Mild+to+moderate+vascular+dementia+(VaD)
(644) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24639880
(645) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21766442
(646) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12895686
(647) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18230054
(648) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19240260