Science

Mercè Boada, Oscar L. López, Javier Olazarán, Laura Núñez, Michael Pfeffer, Orlando Puente, Gerard Piñol-Ripoll, José E. Gámez, Fernando Anaya, Dobri Kiprov, Montserrat Alegret, Carlota Grifols, Miquel Barceló, Jordi Bozzo, Zbigniew M. Szczepiorkowski, Antonio Páez, the AMBAR Trial Group

Introduction:
We report the effects of plasma exchange (PE) with albumin replacement on neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric, and quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients in a phase 2b/3 trial (Alzheimer’s Management by Albumin Replacement [AMBAR] study).

Methods:
Three hundred forty-seven patients were randomized into placebo (sham-PE) and three PE-treatment arms with low/high doses of albumin, with/without intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Specific test measurements were performed at baseline; month 2 (weekly conventional PE); months 6, 9, and 12 (monthly low-volume PE [LVPE]); and month 14.

Results:
The PE-treated mild-AD cohort improved their language fluency and processing speed versus placebo at month 14 (effect sizes: >100%; P-values: .03 to .001). The moderate-AD cohort significantly improved short-term verbal memory (effect sizes: 94% to >100%; P-values: .02 to .003). The progression of the neuropsychiatric symptoms of PE-treated was similar to placebo. Mild-AD patients showed improved QoL (P-values: .04 to .008).

Discussion:
PE-treated AD patients showed improvement in memory, language abilities, processing speed, and QoL-AD. No worsening of their psychoaffective status was observed.