Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41393110›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in aging neuroscience2025

Evaluation of microcurrent as an adjunct to donepezil therapy in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model: a pilot study.

Eun Ho Kim, Yoon-Jin Lee, Yong Suk Moon, Oh Dae Kwon, Dong Rak Kwon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Eun Ho KimDepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Yoon-Jin LeeDepartment of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
Yong Suk MoonDepartment of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Oh Dae KwonDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Dong Rak KwonDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, School of Medicine, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder due to Aβ plaque accumulation, followed by loss of synapses and decline in cognitive abilities. Donepezil is currently one of the standard pharmacological treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Recently, microcurrent (MC) therapy has emerged as a non-pharmacological adjunct for AD management. Recently, microcurrent therapy emerged as a non-pharmacological alternative to treat AD. Objective: The study investigates the therapeutic outcomes of the MC as an adjuvant to donepezil in mitigating cognitive dysfunction in the transgenic mouse model (5XFAD). Methods: Transgenic 5xFAD mice were assigned to the control, donepezil, MC, or MC + donepezil (combination) groups. Behavioral performance was assessed using the novel object recognition (NOR) and radial arm maze (RAM) tests. Amyloid burden, glial activation, cytokine expression, apoptotic signaling, and intracellular pathways (PI3K-AKT, AMPK, and JAK2/3) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Results: Combined treatment with donepezil and microcurrent showed a trend toward improved cognitive performance and reduced pathology compared to donepezil alone, although these differences were not statistically significant. Aβ plaque burden in the cortex and the hippocampus was reduced by approximately 68%, thereby exceeding reductions observed with either treatment alone. Microglial and astroglial activation (Iba1, GFAP, and CD68) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF- Conclusion: Donepezil combined with microcurrent therapy showed comparable efficacy to donepezil alone, with numerical trends toward further improvement in cognitive function and pathology, but without statistically significant differences. Both treatments reduced Aβ burden, attenuated glial activation, and modulated survival-related pathways to a similar extent. These findings support a multi-target therapeutic strategy and highlight the translational potential of integrating microcurrent therapy with standard pharmacological treatment for AD.

Indexed as

5XFAD mouse modelAlzheimer’s diseaseamyloid-βcognitive functiondonepezilmicrocurrent therapyneuroinflammation

Identifiers

PMID41393110
PMCPMC12695830

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.