A Comparative Analysis Of Donepezil And Tacrine In The Pharmacological Management Of Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

This paper examines two medicines on Alzheimer’s disease, donepezil and tacrine, that are both cholinesterase inhibitor drugs. It presents a comparative literature review evaluating their mechanism of action, pharmacokinetic properties, clinical efficacy, safety, and tolerability based on evidence from published clinical studies and articles used to synthesize to evaluate the advantage and limitations for both drugs. This comparison demonstrates that although both medications improve cognitive symptoms by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, donepezil showcases better selectivity for acetylcholinesterase, longer half life, fewer drug interactions, and a lower risk of hepatotoxicity compared with tacrine. Overall, the findings indicate that donepezil exhibits a significant advantage over tacrine in treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, highlighting the importance of optimizing drug selectivity and safety in the development of medication.