PEMOLINE TREATMENT OF DEFICIT SYMPTOMS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

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The Clinical Brain Disorders Branch is engaged in a series of clinical trials of dopamine agonists in an effort to find some treatment for the deficit symptoms of schizophrenia. The impetus for this work comes from evidence developed here from imaging studies that by enhancing cortical dopaminergic function deficit symptoms might be ameliorated. Pemoline is an indirect dopamine agonist long used in the treatment of attention deficit disorder in children. It has a track record of safety and lack of serious toxicity. In experimental animals it is devoid of noradrenergic activity. Additionally, animals will not self administer the drug, which suggests that it is has low addictive and abuse potential. These characteristics set pemoline apart from amphetamine and methylphenidate, the dopamine agonists most commonly used in children, and make pemoline an attractive candidate for stimulating cortical dopamine function. An open trial of pemoline in on patient was encouraging. A formal protocol is in preparation for a double blind clinical study to confirm or refuse the hypothesis.