Does amantadine have favourable effects on fatigue in Persian patients suffering from multiple sclerosis?
OBJECTIVE
Fatigue is a frequent symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS), recognized as the most unpleasant symptom by 50-60% of patients. Amantadine is one of the medications prescribed for fatigue in MS. Some previous studies have demonstrated a positive influences of amantadine on fatigue in MS. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of amantadine on Persian MS patients.


METHODS
This prospective study took place in Isfahan, Iran and included 42 MS patients with fatigue who were divided randomly into two groups. Twenty-one patients received amantadine and all others placebo. The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) was used to determine the severity of the fatigue. FSS scores at baseline and two months later were compared in the two groups.


RESULTS
Mean (SD) baseline FSS score was 5.27 (1.11) in the amantadine group and 4.89 (1.13) in the placebo group (p > 0.05). Mean FSS at the end of study was 4.00 (1.02) in the amantadine group and 4.24 (1.03) in the placebo group (p > 0.05); however, the FSS change (the difference between FSS scores at the end of the study and at the beginning of the study) in amantadine and placebo groups was -1.27 (0.53) and -0.66 (0.33), respectively, which was significant (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings demonstrate a significant drop on the fatigue severity scale in MS patients after treatment with amantadine; nevertheless, more studies on a larger scale with longer duration are needed to confirm this finding.
Ashtari
Fereshteh
F
Neurology Department, Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Fatehi
Farzad
F
Shaygannejad
Vahid
V
Chitsaz
Ahmad
A
D000328:Adult; D000547:Amantadine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005221:Fatigue / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D015259:Dopamine Agents; D000547:Amantadine