title: Bromocriptine therapy in multiple sclerosis: an open label pilot study.
abstract: Bromocriptine suppresses the duration and severity of clinical signs of experimental allergic encephalitis, which is considered as an animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS). We conducted an open pilot study with 2.5 mg of bromocriptine two times a day on 18 patients with clinically or laboratory-supported definite MS (10 with the relapsing-remitting form and eight with the chronic progressive form). After 1 year of treatment, 14 of the 15 patients who completed the study showed disease progression as evidenced by one or more of the following parameters: worsening of the EDSS score, clinical relapses, appearance of new lesions on MRI of the brain and brainstem, or increased latencies of visual or auditory evoked responses. These findings indicate that bromocriptine does not completely suppresses ongoing disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Academisch Ziekenhuis Vrije, Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bissay
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Klippel
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Herroelen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmedding
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buisseret
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ebinger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Keyser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D001971:Bromocriptine