Selegiline versus L-acetylcarnitine in the treatment of Alzheimer-type dementia.

: Forty elderly patients (13 men and 27 women, aged 56 to 80 years) were enrolled in a single-blind, randomized, parallel study to assess the efficacy and safety of selegiline (10 mg, once daily) and that of L-acetylcarnitine (500 mg, twice daily) in the treatment of patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer-type disorders. The treatments lasted 90 days, after a run-in period of 15 days. An extensive psychometric examination, carried out at baseline and subsequently at every 30 days of treatment, was used for evaluation of efficacy. Drug safety was assessed by noting any adverse effects that occurred during treatment and by performing laboratory tests at the beginning and end of treatment. According to the resulting data, selegiline therapy led to a global improvement in the capacity for the processing, storage, and retrieval of given information. Improvements in verbal fluency and visuospatial abilities were also noted. The marked between-group differences demonstrate that, at the dosage used, selegiline was far more effective than L-acetylcarnitine with respect to the degree of improvement. Finally, tolerability of both drugs was excellent, inasmuch as neither the monitoring for adverse drug reactions nor laboratory tests revealed any abnormalities resulting from therapy.