Effects of Different Administration Protocols on the Plasma Concentration of Donepezil Hydrochloride in Dementia Patients with Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) as well as Alzheimer's disease (AD) increases with age. With the aging of the population in Japan, there is an increasing likelihood that patients with CKD will receive donepezil hydrochloride (DPZ), an antidementia drug, in the near future. Nevertheless, there have been few reports on how to use DPZ in patients with severe CKD. We report on 2 CKD stage 5 patients who received DPZ under different prescriptions. In case 1, 3 mg/day of DPZ was initially administered for 4 months, after which the dose was increased to 5 mg/day. In case 2, 5 mg was administered twice a week. The plasma concentration of DPZ was measured and the effectiveness was assessed using the Mini-Mental Health State Examination and the Hasegawa Dementia Rating Scale. We found that (1) only a slight increase in the plasma concentration of DPZ was observed with a dose of 3 mg daily, (2) there was a significant increase in the plasma concentration with a dose of 5 mg daily, and (3) when 5 mg of DPZ was administered twice a week, the plasma concentration did not differ significantly from healthy controls who had received 5 mg daily. Although cognitive function was improved best when the 5-mg dose was administered daily with no apparent side effects, the plasma concentration came close to reaching a toxic level at this dose. Careful follow-up may be essential when DPZ is used at 5 mg/day or greater in severe CKD patients.