ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the hippocampal subfield volumes before and after taking hydrochloric donepezil in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods:From January, 2017 to June, 2018, 25 mild AD patients accepted hydrochloric donepezil (treatment group), 25 patients accepted placebo (placebo group) and 25 age- and gender-matched healthy old people (control group) were scanned with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) under 3D-T1 TFE sequence before and after a six-month treatment, and the automated segmentation of the hippocampus subfields was fulfilled with FreeSurfer and the hippocampus subfield volumes were compared, while the patients were assessed with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results:Compared with the control group, the volumes of left CA1， CA2-3 and CA4-DG, and right CA1 and CA2-3 were reduced in patients before treatment (t > 2.294, P < 0.05). The volume of left CA4-DG increased in the treatment group compared with that of the placebo group after treatment (t = 2.196, P < 0.05), and the volume of bilateral CA1 and CA2-3 tended to increase but not significantly (t < 1.888, P > 0.065). The MMSE score was more in the treatment group than in the placebo group after treatment (t = 2.764, P < 0.05). Conclusion:The association with asymmetric atrophy in the hippocampal subfields has been found in mild AD patients, especially in left CA4-DG, which may be used as a valuable marker for diagnosis and evaluation for treatment at early stage.