Effect of Butylphthalide soft capsules on cognitive function and dementia-related factors in elderly patients with Parkinson's disease dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

To observe the effect of Butylphthalide soft capsules on improving cognitive function, activity of daily living, and dementia-related factors of elderly patients with Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS

The clinical data of 126 elderly patients with PDD admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University during the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were assigned to a control group (conventional clinical treatment, n=50) and a research group (conventional clinical treatment combined with Butylphthalide soft capsules, n=76). The clinical response, clinical symptoms, cognitive function, activity of daily living (ADL), cerebral blood flow velocity, serum inflammatory factors, oxidative stress indices, neurotrophic factors, dementia-related factors, and drug safety were analyzed and compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The overall response rate was significantly higher in the research group than in the control group (97.37% vs. 84.00%, P=0.017). After treatment, the clinical symptom-based scores and levels of serum inflammatory factors, malondialdehyde, and Parkinson disease protein 7 were significantly lower in the research group than in the control group (all P<0.001); the cognitive function and ADL scores, cerebral blood flow velocities, and levels of catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, neurotrophic factors, and neurotrophin-3 were significantly higher in the research group (all P<0.001). The incidence of adverse reactions was comparable between the two groups (4.00% vs. 6.58%, P=0.825).

CONCLUSION

Butylphthalide soft capsules have a definite effect and good safety in elderly patients with PDD during the COVID-19 pandemic.