Huperzine: A response to cognitive impairment and task switching deficits in patients with Alzheimer’s disease
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is associated with cognitive decline due to various pathological mechanisms. There are several acetylcholinesterase inhibitor compounds which can improve cognition, but Huperzine-A is a natural sesquiterpene alkaloid extracted from Chinese herb (Huperzia Serrata) which has rapid action. METHODS: Double blind study was conducted. Participants included 50 patients with AD and 50 healthy individuals. Patients were recruited from Civil and BV hospital Bahawalpur and Nishter hospital Multan, Pakistan during May 2017 until February 2018 who were stable on Huperzine-A medication. Patients were tested twice. First, at the time of diagnosis to determine baseline scores. Second, post eight weeks of Huperzine-A treatment. Healthy individuals had single testing session. Participants completed Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination and Trail Making Test. RESULTS: Patients with AD showed cognitive and task switching deficits in contrast with healthy individuals. There was significant improvement in cognition and task switching abilities post Huperzine-A treatment compared with baseline performance. CONCLUSION: Huperzine-A is effective in reducing cognitive and task switching deficits in patients with AD.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Huperzine-A (58) extracted from Huperia serrata is a broad neuroprotective sesquiterpene alkaloid.
“Gul et al. [133] extracted a broad neuroprotective sesquiterpene alkaloid, Huperzine-A (58) from the Chinese herb, Huperia serrata.”
From Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Potential of Various Sesquiterpene Analogues for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy (2021) · cites this paper as [133]
Cites
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6 · Cited by 88,282 · see citing works
Assessment of Older People: Self-Maintaining and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
Lawton, M. P., & Brody, E. M. (1969) · The Gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/9.3_part_1.179 · Cited by 18,540 · see citing works
Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report
Yesavage, J. A., Brink, T. L., Rose, T. L., Lum, O., Huang, V., Adey, M., & Leirer, V. O. (1982) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(82)90033-4 · Cited by 15,025 · see citing works
VALIDITY OF THE TRAIL MAKING TEST AS AN INDICATOR OF ORGANIC BRAIN DAMAGE
Reitan, R. M. (1958) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.2466/pms.1958.8.3.271 · Cited by 7,925 · see citing works
Terry, R. D., Masliah, E., Salmon, D. P., Butters, N., DeTeresa, R., Hill, R., Hansen, L. A., & Katzman, R. (1991) · Annals of Neurology · doi:10.1002/ana.410300410 · Cited by 4,397 · see citing works
McGeer, P. L., Itagaki, S., Boyes, B. E., & McGeer, E. G. (1988) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/wnl.38.8.1285 · Cited by 2,990 · see citing works
Arnold, S. E., Hyman, B. T., Flory, J., Damasio, A. R., & Van Hoesen, G. W. (1991) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/1.1.103 · Cited by 1,380 · see citing works
Tangle and neuron numbers, but not amyloid load, predict cognitive status in Alzheimer’s disease
Giannakopoulos, P., Herrmann, F. R., Bussière, T., Bouras, C., Kövari, E., Perl, D. P., Morrison, J. H., Gold, G., & Hof, P. R. (2003) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000063311.58879.01 · Cited by 1,118 · see citing works
Redox- and non-redox-metal-induced formation of free radicals and their role in human disease
Valko, M., Jomová, K., Rhodes, C. J., Kuča, K., & Musílek, K. (2015) · Archives of Toxicology · doi:10.1007/s00204-015-1579-5 · Cited by 1,028 · see citing works
Hsieh, S., Schubert, S., Hoon, C., Mioshi, E., & Hodges, J. R. (2013) · Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders · doi:10.1159/000351671 · Cited by 970 · see citing works
Tau pathology and neurodegeneration contribute to cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease
Bejanin, A., Schonhaut, D. R., La Joie, R., Kramer, J. H., Baker, S. L., Sosa, N., Ayakta, N., Cantwell, A., Janabi, M., Lauriola, M., et al. (2017) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awx243 · Cited by 778 · see citing works
Progress in studies of huperzine A, a natural cholinesterase inhibitor from Chinese herbal medicine1
WANG, R., YAN, H., & TANG, X.-C. (2006) · Acta Pharmacologica Sinica · doi:10.1111/j.1745-7254.2006.00255.x · Cited by 470 · see citing works
A delicate balance: Iron metabolism and diseases of the brain
Hare, D. J., Ayton, S., Bush, A. I., & Lei, P. (2013) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2013.00034 · Cited by 444 · see citing works
Belleville, S., Chertkow, H. M., & Gauthier, S. G. (2007) · Neuropsychology · doi:10.1037/0894-4105.21.4.458 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Kelley, B. J., & Petersen, R. C. (2007) · Neurologic Clinics · doi:10.1016/j.ncl.2007.03.008 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Zangara, A. (2003) · Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0091-3057(03)00111-4 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Jellinger, K. A. (2003) · Acta Neuropathologica · doi:10.1007/s00401-003-0725-y · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Neuroprotective effects of huperzine A: New therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative disease
Zhang, H. Y., & Tang, X. C. (2006) · Trends in Pharmacological Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tips.2006.10.004 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Vulnerability of cortical neurons to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases
Braak, H., Rüb, U., Schultz, C., & Tredici, K. D. (2006) · Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · doi:10.3233/jad-2006-9s305 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Huperzine A in the Treatment of Alzheimer′s Disease and Vascular Dementia: A Meta‐Analysis
Xing, S.-H., Zhu, C., Zhang, R., & An, L. (2014) · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · doi:10.1155/2014/363985 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Zhang, Z., Wang, X., Chen, Q., et al. (2002) · PubMed · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Task switching capacities in persons with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment
Belleville, S., Bherer, L., Lepage, É., Chertkow, H. M., & Gauthier, S. G. (2008) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.02.012 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Giannakopoulos, P., Gold, G., Kövari, E., von Gunten, A., Imhof, A., Bouras, C., & Hof, P. R. (2006) · Acta Neuropathologica · doi:10.1007/s00401-006-0144-y · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Role of Huperzine a in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
Desilets, A. R., Gickas, J. J., & Dunican, K. C. (2009) · Annals of Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1345/aph.1l402 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Alzheimer disease without neocortical neurofibrillary tangles
Tiraboschi, P., Sabbagh, M. N., Hansen, L. A., Salmon, D. P., Merdes, A., Gamst, A. C., Masliah, E., Alford, M. F., Thal, L. J., & Corey‐Bloom, J. (2004) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000118212.41542.e7 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Le déficit neuropsychologique dans la maladie d’Alzheimer débutante
Traykov, L., Rigaud, A., Césaro, P., & Boller, F. (2007) · L Encéphale · doi:10.1016/s0013-7006(07)92044-8 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Arya, A., Chahal, R., Rao, R., Rahman, M. H., Kaushik, D., Akhtar, M. F., Saleem, A., Khalifa, S. M. A., El-Seedi, H. R., Kamel, M., et al. (2021) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom11030350 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gul, A., Bakht, J., & Mehmood, F.
- Affiliations
- Islamia University of Bahawalpur (PK)
- The University of Agriculture, Peshawar (PK)
- Corresponding author
- Gul, Amara
- ORCID
- Bakht, Jehan
- Venue
- Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
- Published
- 2019-01
- Volume
- 82
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 40-43
- ISSN
- 1726-4901 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2890410336
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of the Chinese Medical Association (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
- Keywords
- huperzine A, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive impairment, task switching, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, Huperzia serrata, sesquiterpene alkaloids, Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination, Trail Making Test, cognitive decline
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Alkaloids, Alzheimer Disease, Cholinesterase Inhibitors, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Sesquiterpenes, Cognitive Dysfunction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
