Effect of anticholinergic medication on positive and negative symptoms in medication-free schizophrenic patients.
It is generally assumed that anticholinergic drugs have no effects on schizophrenic symptomatology. A few studies, however, indicate that anticholinergic agents aggravate psychotic symptoms and antagonize therapeutic effects of neuroleptics in schizophrenic patients; more recently, some investigators have observed that these agents appear to benefit negative symptoms. In an effort to resolve this issue, we studied the effects of 2 days of treatment with biperiden on positive and negative symptoms in 15 medication-free schizophrenic patients. Positive symptoms increased significantly, while there was a trend toward a decrease in negative symptoms. The implications of these findings for the role of the cholinergic system in schizophrenia are discussed.
Tandon
R
R
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0120.
Mann
N A
NA
Eisner
W H
WH
Coppard
N
N
D000328:Adult; D001712:Biperiden / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000187:drug effects; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D010880:Piperidines; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D001712:Biperiden