The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7502 p589
17 May 2008

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Naproxen and celecoxib not effective as preventives for Alzheimer’s disease

Naproxen and celecoxib do not appear to improve cognitive function in adults with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say.

In the Alzheimer’s disease anti-inflammatory prevention trial (ADAPT) researchers randomly assigned 2,528 cognitively normal men and women aged 70 years and older to receive celecoxib 200mg twice daily, naproxen 220mg twice daily or placebo.

They say that they tested these drugs as primary prevention agents because of the strong epidemiological evidence of a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in people taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

The researchers comment that the trial’s cognitive function results did not show a protective effect with the use of NSAIDs. There was, in fact, weak evidence for a detrimental effect of naproxen, they point out. The researchers add that continued follow-up appears warranted to investigate treatment effects with respect to timing of exposure.

However, they say: “For now we suggest that naproxen and celecoxib should not be used for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”

The findings are published online in the Archives of Neurology. These contrast with further epidemiology data published recently in Neurology, which suggest that long-term NSAID use might be protective against Alzheimer’s disease (2008;70:1672).