Jones Trevor, Shalom Moshe, Chalamgari Anjalika, Gold Justin, Zomalan Brolyn, Patel Saarang, Munjal Vikas, Khan Mohammad F, Mao Yuncong, Gendreau Julian L, Abraham Mickey E
Department of Neurosurgery, University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA.
Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, USA.
Cureus. 2025 May 31;17(5):e85156. doi: 10.7759/cureus.85156. eCollection 2025 May.
There is still no cure for Alzheimer's disease (AD), which remains the leading cause of dementia in Western countries. Neuromodulation, the use of electrical or chemical interventions to modify neuronal excitability, has shown promise in treating several neurological conditions and has become a topic of interest in the context of AD. We aim to review clinical trials related to neuromodulation in AD. Analysis of current clinical trials was conducted using ClinicalTrials.gov. The search term used was "Alzheimer's disease," and results were filtered for studies that included neuromodulation. One hundred and eleven clinical trials were found, and 82 trials remained after exclusion. All trials utilized some form of neuromodulation device as the primary intervention, with transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation as the most common modalities. Thirty-six (43.9%) trials were completed, 20 (24.3%) were not yet recruiting, 23 (28.0%) were actively recruiting, and three (3.7%) were enrolling by invitation. Of the completed trials, only 11 (30.6%) had associated results, and of those 11, eight (22.2% of completed trials, 72.7% of trials with results) were associated with published articles in a peer-reviewed journal. All but one of the eight trials displayed some form of improvement in their metric of choice. Although the number of trials with published results is limited, there appears to be positive evidence of the efficacy of neuromodulation in treating AD. The medical community must continue to emphasize the need for additional clinical trials in this area.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）仍然无法治愈，它仍是西方国家痴呆症的主要病因。神经调节，即使用电或化学干预来改变神经元兴奋性，已显示出在治疗多种神经系统疾病方面的前景，并已成为AD背景下的一个研究热点。我们旨在综述与AD神经调节相关的临床试验。使用ClinicalTrials.gov对当前的临床试验进行了分析。使用的搜索词是“阿尔茨海默病”，并对包含神经调节的研究结果进行了筛选。共找到111项临床试验，排除后剩下82项试验。所有试验均采用某种形式的神经调节设备作为主要干预措施，其中经颅磁刺激和经颅直流电刺激是最常见的方式。36项（43.9%）试验已完成，20项（24.3%）尚未招募，23项（28.0%）正在积极招募，3项（3.7%）通过邀请入组。在已完成的试验中，只有11项（30.6%）有相关结果，在这11项中，8项（占已完成试验的22.2%，占有结果试验的72.7%）与同行评审期刊上发表的文章相关。这8项试验中除1项外，其他试验在其选择的指标上均显示出某种形式的改善。尽管有发表结果的试验数量有限，但似乎有积极证据表明神经调节在治疗AD方面有效。医学界必须继续强调在该领域进行更多临床试验的必要性。
