L-dopa in the treatment of negative schizophrenic symptoms: a single-subject experimental study.
Adjunctive Sinemet (L-DOPA plus carbidopa) therapy was assessed for a neuroleptic nonresponsive schizophrenic with a longstanding negative syndrome. A twenty-seven week double-blind placebo-controlled reversal design found significant improvement specifically for negative symptoms while treated with combined haloperidol-Sinemet as compared against haloperidol-placebo. The eight-week adjunctive treatment reversed a worsening trend in attention, abstract thinking, passive withdrawal, psychomotor retardation, and a cluster of seven negative parameters, while positive symptoms were unaffected. This seemed to represent more than simple reversal of drug-induced akinesia and underscores the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative syndromes in psychopharmacological research.
Kay
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SR
Opler
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LA
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002230:Carbidopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004338:Drug Combinations / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; C009265:carbidopa, levodopa drug combination; D007980:Levodopa; D002230:Carbidopa