Progress of Mild Alzheimer's Disease in Participants on Acupuncture Versus Sham Acupuncture

Alzheimer Disease 1 Clinical Trial

Official title: Randomized, Blinded, Sham-Controlled Trial of Acupuncture on the Progression of Mild Alzheimer's Disease

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

To determine if adjunctive acupuncture acts as an AD treatment rather than a placebo, and identify if benefits are linked to shifts of the gut microbiota.

Clinical Trial Description

Acupuncture is used as an adjuvant therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but available evidence for efficacy is weak. Growing studies suggest that resident gut microbiota contributes to the development and progression of AD. Acupuncture is reported to treat gastrointestinal and neurodegenerative disorders via the gut-brain axis. The aim is to determine if adjunctive acupuncture acts as an AD treatment rather than a placebo, and identify if benefits are linked to shifts of the gut microbiota.

This is a randomized, participant-masked, sham-controlled trial. One hundred and sixty participants with mild AD will be randomly assigned (1:1) to either active acupuncture or non-penetrating sham acupuncture (3 times weekly for 14 weeks) added to donepezil treatment (5 mg per day for 28 weeks). The primary efficacy outcome is the change from baseline to week 28 in the Alzheimer's disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog12). Secondary efficacy outcomes include other assessments of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Alzheimer's disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and gut microbiota. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alzheimer Disease
• Alzheimer Disease 1

• NCT number: NCT05078944
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Shanghai Institute of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Meridian
• Contact: Xiehe Kong, MD
• Phone: +8613621775647
• Email: ynomrahkong@163.com
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 30, 2022
• Completion date: December 2025