Boston University LogoThis news deals with the grave issue of Alzheimer’s. Apparently promising outcomes could be seen in a phase 2 trial. But patients suffering from mild Alzheimer disease who were given the drug tarenflurbil during the phase 3 trial did not appear to have improved results on measures of cognitive decline or loss of activities of every day living as opposed to patients who received placebo. This was alleged by a study.

An important hypothesis on the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease (AD) is apparently the overproduction of amyloid-β. It is a peptide of specific amino acids that seem to be the chief element of amyloid plaques in the brains of patients suffering from AD. 42 amino acid peptide Aβ42 was claimed to be observed the most.

The authors commented, “Tarenflurbil, a selective Aβ42-lowering agent, demonstrated encouraging results on cognitive and functional outcomes among mildly affected patients in an earlier phase 2 trial.”

A huge phase 3 trial of tarenflurbil for patients suffering from mild AD to find out its effectiveness, security and acceptability was carried out by Robert C. Green, M.D., M.P.H., of the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and his colleagues.

This study was supposedly performed at about 133 trial sites in the United States. Around 1,684 subjects were encompassed in the study. Approximately 1,649 individuals were integrated in the investigation who were randomized with only about 1,046 subjects finishing the 18-month trial. To receive tarenflurbil, 800 mg, or placebo, twice a day, patients were also randomized.

The study authors discovered that tarenflurbil appeared to have had no valuable outcome on the chief results of cognition and activities of every day living post 18 months. It was also observed that there seemed to be no considerable disparities on secondary results, which incorporated other AD evaluation measures like quality of life and caregiver burden.

On the subject of unfavorable events, more subjects consuming tarenflurbil as opposed to those taking placebo apparently went through upper respiratory tract infections, dizziness and anemia.

The study was published in the issue of JAMA.