Title

The Efficacy and Safety of AChE Inhibitor Donepezil As Adjunctive Treatment to Mood Stabilizers in Acute Mania
A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Evaluation of The Efficacy and Safety of AChE Inhibitor Donepezil As Adjunctive Treatment to Mood Stabilizers in Acute Mania
  • Phase

    Phase 4
  • Study Type

    Interventional
  • Status

    Completed No Results Posted
  • Intervention/Treatment

    lithium donepezil ...
  • Study Participants

    40
There is a high rate of partial response to standard thymoleptic medication. In this study the investigators want to evaluate the safety and efficacy of donepezil as adjunctive treatment to mood stabilizers in bipolar disorder with acute mania. The investigators hypotheses were that there would be greater mean reduction in manic symptoms with donepezil augmentation of lithium compared with placebo.
Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental illness that affects 1-2% of the general population. Lithium and valproate are effective for treatment of acute mania for many patients. However up to half of patients do not respond adequately to currently approved treatments in the acute phase of mania. More effective treatment for mania are need. Imbalance in cholinergic and adrenergic tone has long been postulated in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. In the pathophysiology of mania,relative cholinergic hypoactivity was being implicated. Donepezil is a centrally acting reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. It is approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In an open case series with standardized ratings, addition of donepezil 5-10 mg/day to ongoing mood-stabilizer treatment was associated with marked improvement in treatment-resistant mania. We want to conduct a 4-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of donepezil as augmentation of lithium in patients with acute manic episode to evaluate the safety and efficacy of donepezil as adjunctive treatment to mood stabilizers in bipolar disorder with acute mania.
Study Started
May 31
2005
Primary Completion
Apr 30
2008
Study Completion
Apr 30
2008
Last Update
Aug 31
2010
Estimate

Drug Donepezil and Lithium

Donepezil dose will be started at 5mg/d and increased to 10 mg/d in 1 week.

  • Other names: Aricept

Drug Placebo plus Lithium

donepezil Experimental

donepezil plus Lithium

Control Placebo Comparator

Placebo plus Lithium

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients have DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar disorder with acute manic episode who are admitted as inpatient
Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) total score >20 (based on mean scores of two ratings after admission)
Physical examination, laboratory results (eg.EKG) from screening visit normal, or abnormal clinically insignificant

Exclusion Criteria:

Having history of allergy to donepezil or Lithium.
Having active suicide or homicide attempt or intent
Having severe medical conditions or taking multiple medications for medical conditions
Investigational drug treatment within past 30 days
Having a drug screen positive for any drug of abuse at screening
Self-report of active substance abuse in the past 2 weeks or substance dependence in the past 2 months
Diagnosis of schizophrenia, dementia, delirium, seizure disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, or unstable medical condition
Administration of any investigational drug within 30 days of screening
Pregnancy or lactation
Asthma requiring chronic medication treatment or ongoing use of anticholinergic medications or cholinomimetics
Other factors that investigator consider not suitable for the study
No Results Posted