Skip to main content
Advertisement
  • Neurology.org
  • Journals
    • Neurology
    • Clinical Practice
    • Education
    • Genetics
    • Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
  • Online Sections
    • Neurology Video Journal Club
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
    • Neurology: Clinical Practice Accelerator
    • Practice Buzz
    • Practice Current
    • Residents & Fellows
    • Without Borders
  • Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Disputes & Debates
    • Health Disparities
    • Infographics
    • Neurology Future Forecasting Series
    • Null Hypothesis
    • Patient Pages
    • Topics A-Z
    • Translations
  • Podcast
  • CME
  • About
    • About the Journals
    • Contact Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Authors
    • Submit New Manuscript
    • Submit Revised Manuscript
    • Author Center

Advanced Search

Main menu

  • Neurology.org
  • Journals
    • Neurology
    • Clinical Practice
    • Education
    • Genetics
    • Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
  • Online Sections
    • Neurology Video Journal Club
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
    • Neurology: Clinical Practice Accelerator
    • Practice Buzz
    • Practice Current
    • Residents & Fellows
    • Without Borders
  • Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Disputes & Debates
    • Health Disparities
    • Infographics
    • Neurology Future Forecasting Series
    • Null Hypothesis
    • Patient Pages
    • Topics A-Z
    • Translations
  • Podcast
  • CME
  • About
    • About the Journals
    • Contact Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Authors
    • Submit New Manuscript
    • Submit Revised Manuscript
    • Author Center
  • Home
  • Latest Articles
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Neurology Video Journal Club
  • Residents & Fellows

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • My Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Neurology
Home
The most widely read and highly cited peer-reviewed neurology journal
  • Subscribe
  • My Alerts
  • Log in
Site Logo
  • Home
  • Latest Articles
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Neurology Video Journal Club
  • Residents & Fellows

Share

September 01, 1996; 47 (3) ARTICLES

A 1-year multicenter placebo-controlled study of acetyl-L-carnitine in patients with Alzheimer's disease

L. J. Thal, A. Carta, W. R. Clarke, S. H. Ferris, R. P. Friedland, R. C. Petersen, J. W. Pettegrew, E. Pfeiffer, M. A. Raskind, M. Sano, M. H. Tuszynski, R. F. Woolson
First published September 1, 1996, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.47.3.705
L. J. Thal
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
A. Carta
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
W. R. Clarke
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
S. H. Ferris
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
R. P. Friedland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
R. C. Petersen
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J. W. Pettegrew
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
E. Pfeiffer
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M. A. Raskind
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M. Sano
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M. H. Tuszynski
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
R. F. Woolson
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Full PDF
Citation
A 1-year multicenter placebo-controlled study of acetyl-L-carnitine in patients with Alzheimer's disease
L. J. Thal, A. Carta, W. R. Clarke, S. H. Ferris, R. P. Friedland, R. C. Petersen, J. W. Pettegrew, E. Pfeiffer, M. A. Raskind, M. Sano, M. H. Tuszynski, R. F. Woolson
Neurology Sep 1996, 47 (3) 705-711; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.47.3.705

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions

Make Comment

See Comments

Downloads
102

Share

  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Disclosures
Loading

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Abstract

A 1-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel-group study compared the efficacy and safety of acetyl-L-carnitine hydrochloride (ALCAR) with placebo in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Subjects with mild to moderate probable AD, aged 50 or older, were treated with 3 g/day of ALCAR or placebo (1 g tid) for 12 months. Four hundred thirty-one patients entered the study, and 83% completed 1 year of treatment.

The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale cognitive component and the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale were the primary outcome measures.Overall, both ALCAR- and placebo-treated patients declined at the same rate on all primary and most secondary measures during the trial. In a subanalysis by age that compared early-onset patients (aged 65 years or younger at study entry) with late-onset patients (older than 66 at study entry), we found a trend for early-onset patients on ALCAR to decline more slowly than early-onset AD patients on placebo on both primary endpoints. In addition, early-onset patients tended to decline more rapidly than older patients in the placebo groups. Conversely, late-onset AD patients on ALCAR tended to progress more rapidly than similarly treated early-onset patients. The drug was very well tolerated during the trial.

The study suggests that a subgroup of AD patients aged 65 or younger may benefit from treatment with ALCAR whereas older individuals might do more poorly.However, these preliminary findings are based on post hoc analyses. A prospective trial of ALCAR in younger patients is underway to test the hypothesis that young, rapidly progressing subjects will benefit from ALCAR treatment.

NEUROLOGY 1996;47: 705-711

  • Copyright 1996 by Advanstar Communications Inc.
View Full Text

AAN Members

We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.

Google Safari Microsoft Edge Firefox

Click here to login

AAN Non-Member Subscribers

Click here to login

Purchase access

For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)

Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here 

Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page.  Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00.  Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means.  The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use.  Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.

Letters: Rapid online correspondence

No comments have been published for this article.
Comment

REQUIREMENTS

You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.

Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.

If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.

Submission specifications:

  • Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
  • Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
  • Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
  • Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
  • Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.

More guidelines and information on Disputes & Debates

Compose Comment

More information about text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Author Information
NOTE: The first author must also be the corresponding author of the comment.
First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'.
Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'.
Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com
Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'.
Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.
Publishing Agreement
NOTE: All authors, besides the first/corresponding author, must complete a separate Publishing Agreement Form and provide via email to the editorial office before comments can be posted.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Vertical Tabs

You May Also be Interested in

Back to top
  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Methods.
    • Results.
    • Discussion.
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Disclosures
Advertisement

Safety and Efficacy of Tenecteplase and Alteplase in Patients With Tandem Lesion Stroke: A Post Hoc Analysis of the EXTEND-IA TNK Trials

Dr. Nicole Sur and Dr. Mausaminben Hathidara

► Watch

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.

Alert Me

  • Alert me when eletters are published

Recommended articles

  • Articles
    Metrifonate treatment of the cognitive deficits of Alzheimer's disease
    J. L. Cummings, P. A. Cyrus, F. Bieber et al.
    Neurology, May 01, 1998
  • Articles
    Idebenone treatment fails to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease
    L. J. Thal, M. Grundman, J. Berg et al.
    Neurology, December 08, 2003
  • Articles
    A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of simvastatin to treat Alzheimer disease
    M. Sano, K.L. Bell, D. Galasko et al.
    Neurology, July 27, 2011
  • Articles
    Metrifonate benefits cognitive, behavioral, and global function in patients with Alzheimer's disease
    John C. Morris, Pamela A. Cyrus, John Orazem et al.
    Neurology, May 01, 1998
Neurology: 100 (22)

Articles

  • Ahead of Print
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Popular Articles
  • Translations

About

  • About the Journals
  • Ethics Policies
  • Editors & Editorial Board
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

Submit

  • Author Center
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Information for Reviewers
  • AAN Guidelines
  • Permissions

Subscribers

  • Subscribe
  • Activate a Subscription
  • Sign up for eAlerts
  • RSS Feed
Site Logo
  • Visit neurology Template on Facebook
  • Follow neurology Template on Twitter
  • Visit Neurology on YouTube
  • Neurology
  • Neurology: Clinical Practice
  • Neurology: Education
  • Neurology: Genetics
  • Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
  • AAN.com
  • AANnews
  • Continuum
  • Brain & Life
  • Neurology Today

Wolters Kluwer Logo

Neurology | Print ISSN:0028-3878
Online ISSN:1526-632X

© 2023 American Academy of Neurology

  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Advertise