Archief Roodbont

MIDAS Study

Dr. Karin Yurko-Mauro

Karin Yurko-Mauro, PhD, associate director of clinical research at Martek Biosciences, makers of the DHA supplement derived from algae used in this as well as the AD trial, presented more promising results with supplementation in healthy subjects 55 years of age and older with age-related cognitive decline. This kind of cognitive decline is described in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed (DSM-IV) as "decline in cognitive functioning consequent to the aging process that is within normal limits given a person's age."

The Memory Improvement with DHA Study (MIDAS) was also a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including 485 subjects from 19 US centers stratified by age, randomized to receive 900 mg/day of DHA or placebo for 6 months. The primary end point was cognitive testing of memory and learning using the CANTAB Paired Associate Learning (PAL) test, a computerized cognitive battery measuring visuospatial and memory recall that has been shown to discriminate well between aging, mild cognitive impairment, and AD and to be sensitive to early changes in episodic memory.

"So in terms of our primary end point, the Paired Associate Learning test, what we found was that there significantly fewer errors made on this test with algal DHA for 6 months vs placebo," she said. Subjects taking DHA had almost double the reduction in errors on the PAL test, with a mean reduction of 4.5 errors from a baseline of 13.4, vs a reduction of 2.4 errors from a baseline of 12.1 in the placebo group (P = .032).

The net benefit is roughly equivalent to having the learning and memory skills of someone 3 years younger, Dr. Yurko-Mauro said. Plasma levels of DHA doubled with supplementation and a decrease in heart rate in treated patients correlated with the increased DHA levels, suggesting a potential cardiac benefit.

Finally, there was no difference in adverse events between groups, and the supplements were well tolerated, she noted.

"In conclusion, this MIDAS study is the first large randomized placebo-controlled study to demonstrate the benefits of algal DHA in maintaining and improving brain health in older adults," Dr. Yurko-Mauro concluded. The dose used improved learning and memory recall in these subjects with age-related cognitive decline and appeared to have a significant impact on early episodic memory changes.

Dr. Yurko-Mauro anticipates there will be further study in this population. "I think at this point it's premature to talk about the future plans, but we are closely looking at these results," she said. "There are actually some more data that are coming in from the [National Institutes of Health] NIH trial, and we definitely will be looking toward future development clinically."

During discussion of the trial results at the press conference, Dr. Thies suggested to Dr. Yurko-Mauro that DHA may "just cry for a mild-cognitive-impairment trial," which is the population between age-related cognitive decline and frank Alzheimer's disease. "I think that would be a logical next step," she agreed.

The Alzheimer's study was supported by the National Institute on Aging; the age-related cognitive-decline study was supported by Martek Biosciences. Dr. Yurko-Mauro is an employee of Martek Biosciences; Dr. Quinn reports no disclosures.

2009 Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2009): Abstracts 01-04-01, 01-04-02. Presented July 12, 2009