ergoline and Huntington-Disease

trans-Dihydrolisuride, a partial dopamine receptor agonist, was tested for its effects on chorea in a double-blind, crossover clinical study in 10 patients with Huntington's disease. In eight patients, a neurophysiological evaluation was also performed. No reduction in choreic movements or improvement in voluntary movement performance was observed. However, in some patients, there was a slight improvement in patients' alertness and a reduction of the movement reaction time.

Topics: Adult; Affect; Aged; Awareness; Clinical Trials as Topic; Dopamine Agents; Double-Blind Method; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Lisuride; Male; Middle Aged

Topics: Aged; Apomorphine; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Clinical Trials as Topic; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Lisuride; Male; Meige Syndrome; Middle Aged

Transdihydrolisuride is an ergot derivative with mixed agonist and antagonist effects on central dopamine receptors. We gave the drug orally (1 mg daily) to 10 patients with Huntington's disease. In seven patients, the chorea improved with no adverse effects during the study.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Clinical Trials as Topic; Double-Blind Method; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Lisuride; Male; Mental Processes; Middle Aged; Movement Disorders; Neuropsychological Tests; Random Allocation; Receptors, Dopamine; Time Factors

The authors studied the effects of lisuride hydrogen maleate (lisuride) on the hyperkinesias of 11 patients suffering from Huntington's chorea (HC). In all patients, acute injection of 150 micrograms of the drug induced a marked temporary improvement of the abnormal involuntary movements; the favourable drug-effect was more pronounced in the patients with a less severe degree of hyperkinesia. The antichoreic activity of the drug was prevented by pretreatment with haloperidol (2 mg) or sulpiride (400 mg), both injected intramuscularly 30 min before lisuride administration. The authors suggest the improvement of the motor disturbance induced in HC by lisuride may be explained on the basis of its preferential action on a subset of brain dopaminergic receptor.

Topics: Clinical Trials as Topic; Ergolines; Female; Haloperidol; Humans; Huntington Disease; Lisuride; Male; Placebos; Sulpiride

The authors tested the effects of 2-Br-ergocriptine (bromocriptine, CB-154), a drug which exerts a mixed agonist-antagonist activity on the dopaminergic receptors, in 12 patients with Huntington Chorea in a double-blind crossover trial. This treatment significantly reduced the abnormal involuntary movements and the disease severity in most of the patients. Subjects who were slightly disabled showed a better response than the ones with more severe degrees of disability.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Bromocriptine; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Evaluation; Ergolines; Female; Gait; Humans; Huntington Disease; Male; Middle Aged; Placebos; Spatial Behavior; Speech

Following a recent report that apomorphine hydrochloride alleviates the involuntary movements of Huntington chorea, we have investigated another dopamine receptor agonist, bromocriptine, in this disease. A double-blind crossover study in six patients showed that rather than improving chorea, bromocriptine induced an exacerbation. This finding supports the view that choreatic movements correlate with overactivity in dopaminergic systems.

Topics: Adult; Bromocriptine; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Male; Middle Aged

Topics: Adult; Cabergoline; Dopamine Agonists; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Treatment Outcome

Serotonin-1 receptors were examined in post-mortem human brains, using quantitative in vitro autoradiography. [3H]Serotonin was used as a ligand. Serotonin-1 receptor subtypes were defined with 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)-tetralin and mesulergine. In the control human basal ganglia, the highest density of serotonin-1 binding sites was observed in both lateral and medial globus pallidus and substantia nigra reticulata. Lower densities were seen in the substantia nigra pars compacta, the nucleus accumbens, caudate and putamen. The majority of these serotonin-1 sites belonged to the serotonin-1D class. No significant alteration of the density and distribution of these sites was observed in Parkinson's disease brains. In contrast, a marked decrease in the density of the receptor binding was seen in the basal ganglia and the substantia nigra from patients dying with Huntington's disease. These results suggest that serotonin-1D receptors are expressed by cells intrinsic to the striatum which degenerate in Huntington's disease and project to the substantia nigra reticulata where these receptors are probably presynaptically localized. These observations in pathological human brains agree with the results of lesion studies in animal models and further support a role for serotoninergic mechanisms in movement control.

Topics: Aged; Basal Ganglia; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Male; Middle Aged; Parkinson Disease; Receptors, Serotonin

Topics: Aged; Carbidopa; Dystonia; Ergolines; Female; Hepatolenticular Degeneration; Humans; Huntington Disease; Levodopa; Male; Middle Aged; Movement Disorders; Parkinson Disease

Seven patients affected by Huntington's chorea were given an acute administration of 2-Br-alpha-ergocryptine (CB 154, Sandoz), a direct agonist at dopamine receptor sites. Seven nonobese hospitalized patients were used as controls. Oral administration of CB 154 (2.5 mg) induced a more prompt and consistent rise in plasma growth hormone (GH) levels in patients than in controls. GH levels rose from baseline values of 0.3+/-0.1 ng/ml to mean peak values of 20.4+/-5.1 ng/ml (120-270 min) in choreic subjects and from baseline values of 1.0+/-0.4 ng/ml to mean peak values of 5.7+/-1.6 ng/ml (180-300 min) in control subjects (P less than 0.02). Baseline plasma prolactin (PRL) values were significantly higher in choreic than in control subjects (22.1+/-6.6 ng/ml vs. 8.1+/-1.4 ng/ml, respectively, P less than 0.02); administration of CB 154 induced a more consistent PRL decrease in control than in choreic subjects. Collectively, these results suggest the existence of an abnormal regulation of GH and PRL secretion in Huntington's chorea, probably due to alterations in central dopaminergic neurotransmission.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Bromocriptine; Ergolines; Female; Growth Hormone; Humans; Huntington Disease; Kinetics; Male; Middle Aged; Prolactin

Topics: Animals; Bromocriptine; Cyclic AMP; Ergolines; Female; Humans; Huntington Disease; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Activity; Nervous System Diseases; Parkinson Disease; Rats; Schizophrenia; Stereotyped Behavior; Synapses

Topics: Bromocriptine; Ergolines; Growth Hormone; Homovanillic Acid; Humans; Huntington Disease; Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; Parkinson Disease; Prolactin