Efficacy of Chinese Traditional Medicine "Smart Soup" in Cognition and Behavior Regulation in Alzheimer's Disease

It is a prospective interventional randomized controlled single center trial. The goal of the trial is to evaluate the efficacy of smart soup on cognition, behavior, biomarkers and safety in Alzheimer's disease (aMCI and dementia).

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and places a heavy burden on patients, families, society and healthcare. The drugs that have been marketed worldwide for the treatment of AD so far can only delay but not reverse the course of the disease, and the current drug development is all directed at a single target, while the onset of AD is the result of a combination of multiple factors, which is an important reason why so many drugs have faltered. The investigators need to find new multi-target intervention pathways from another perspective.

The advantage of Chinese medicine is multi-target and multi-factor regulation, which has advantages in treating complex diseases. The combination of ancient smart soup with donepezil was able to significantly improve the cognitive function in demented animals. Smart Soup is prepared from three herbs: Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii, Poria cum Radix Pini, Radix Polygalae. These three herbs are each 15 grams and ground into a very fine powder. This approach reduced the formation of characteristic pathological changes at the pathological level, therefore, the combination of ancient Chinese medicine formulae with modern medical treatment may bring new hope to the treatment of demented patients.

The main design of this study are following: Patients over 40 years of age and eligible for NIA-AA 2011 probable AD and probable MCI were included in this study and were divided into 6 groups of 30 patients each. Group I AD patients were given donepezil 10 mg, memantine 20 mg and smart soup, group II AD patients were given donepezil 10 mg, memantine 20 mg and placebo; group III AD patients were given donepezil 10 mg and smart soup, group IV AD patients were given donepezil 10 mg and placebo; group V mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients were given smart soup, and group VI MCI patients were given placebo.

Evaluations were set before enrollment, every three months till one year and the evaluators were single-blind. The scales involved in the evaluation of cognitive function and quality of life, sleep condition, and emotional behavior included ADAS-cog, MMSE, CDR, ADL, CMAI, NPI, and EQ-5D, which were evaluated five times. MRI, EEG, blood oxidative stress indicators, and biological markers were collected at the same time at enrollment and at the end of the study. Genotype collection was completed at enrollment. Safety was also evaluated with monthly testing of ECG, routine blood, liver and kidney function, urinary routine, and recording of side effects.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* NIA-AA 2011 AD probable Alzheimer's disease, mild to moderate, stable use donepezil 10mg/d for 3 months
* NIA-AA 2011 AD probable Alzheimer's disease, severe, stable use donepezil 10mg/d and memantine 20mg/d for 3 months
* NIA-AA 2011 MCI probable criteria
* stable care giver
* Traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis: pixu tanzhuo

Exclusion Criteria:

* Severe systemic disease (heart, liver ,kidney function failure)
* contradictions of MRI examination