title: A preliminary dose-ranging trial of proglumide for the treatment of refractory schizophrenics.
abstract: A dose-finding study of proglumide added to neuroleptics for the treatment of schizophrenic patients who were relatively refractory to their ongoing neuroleptic regimen was performed. Initially, four patients were open-label treated using a regimen of progressively increasing doses (proglumide 0.5-1024 mg/day) for 4 weeks. Afterwards, seven patients were given low doses (0.5 mg/day) followed by higher doses (500 mg/day) for a total period of 8 weeks. Overall, no improvement was seen in these refractory patients as a group at any dose. In individual patients, modest improvement or worsening of psychotic symptoms was observed. The results suggest that more potent cholecystokinin (CCK) antagonists and a greater knowledge of CCK pharmacology are needed before novel treatments exploiting the interaction of CCK and dopamine in the brain can be developed.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, California.
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Hicks
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vinogradov
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Riney
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Csernansky
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005973:Glutamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D006801:Humans; D011377:Proglumide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D005973:Glutamine; D011377:Proglumide