MRI and neuropsychological improvement in Huntington disease following ethyl-EPA treatment.
A 6-month randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study of the ethyl-ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (ethyl-EPA) was carried out in seven in-patients with advanced (stage III) Huntington's disease (three on ethyl-EPA, four on placebo; no significant difference in age or sex between the groups). After 6 months all the patients treated with ethyl-EPA improved on the orofacial component of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale while all the patients on placebo deteriorated on this scale (p < 0.03). Following subvoxel registration of follow-up 3D MRI brain scans with baseline scans, subtraction images showed that while the placebo was associated with progressive cerebral atrophy, the ethyl-EPA was associated with a reverse process. We conclude that treatment with ethyl-EPA is associated with beneficial motor and MRI changes.
Puri
Basant K
BK
Magnetic Resonance Unit, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London UK.
Bydder
Graeme M
GM
Counsell
Serena J
SJ
Corridan
Bryan J
BJ
Richardson
Alexandra J
AJ
Hajnal
Joseph V
JV
Appel
Caroline
C
Mckee
Heather M
HM
Vaddadi
Krishna S
KS
Horrobin
David F
DF
D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced / Q000209:etiology; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013382:Subtraction Technique
C035276:eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid