Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic degenera- tive disease of the brain that affected 4.5 million Americans in 2000 and is expected to increase al- most 3-fold in prevalence to 13.2 million people by the year 2050.[1] AD is most common among people aged ≥65 years and its incidence increases with age. As the number of patients with AD continuously increases, the annual economic burden on society of the disease, which has been estimated to be $US100 billion, is expected to grow.[2]
AD patients are commonly treated with cholines- terase inhibitors, such as rivastigmine, donepezil or galantamine, to improve AD symptoms and to delay the progression of the disease.[3] Donepezil and ga- lantamine selectively inhibit acetylcholinesterase; rivastigmine targets both acetyl- and butyryl- cholinesterase.[4]