Huperzine A for Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

There is currently insufficient evidence of the effects of Huperzine A for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Huperzine A is derived from Chinese club moss Huperzia serrata, and is described as having several properties which may be beneficial for AD. This review looked for randomized trials comparing Huperzine A with control in patients with AD. Six trials were identified but most trials were of low methodological quality. Although Huperzine A seemed to have some beneficial effects on improvement of general cognitive function, global clinical status, behavioral disturbance and functional performance for patients with AD, the small trials with limited numbers of patients and the low methodological quality resulted in cautious assessment of the results. More large, high-quality randomized trials are needed.

The role of inflammatory processes in Alzheimer’s disease

“…Huperzine A has been shown to be protective against ischemia, hydrogen peroxide, glutamate, and Abmediated toxicity. Clinical trials have shown some evidence of improvements in cognition, activities of daily living, and behavioral disturbances (Li et al 2008), and in vitro studies have indicated that Huperzine, when added to cells exposed to Ab, increased cell survival and activity of glutathione peroxidase and catalase, and produced decreased levels of malondialdehyde (Xiao et al 2000).…”

Plant alkaloids as drug leads for Alzheimer's disease

“…Its (Rafii et al, 2011), while huperzine A (400 µg twice daily) showed some evidence of cognitive enhancement. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials on huperzine A indicates that huperzine A improves cognitive function, daily living activities, and global clinical assessment in patients with AD (Li et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2013). Thus, huperzine A may produce short-term symptomatic improvement.…”

Management of Alzheimers Disease: Role of Existing Therapies, Traditional Medicines and New Treatment Targets

“…Huperzine A is a natural ACHEI derived from the Chinese herb Huperzia serrata, also acts as a NMDA receptor antagonist. It has antioxidant and neuroprotective properties that suggest its usefulness as a disease-modifying treatment for AD [102,103] . A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCT on huperzine has mentioned 20 clinical studies and showed its beneficial effects on cognitive function, daily living activity, and global clinical assessment in participants with AD.…”