title: Pregabalin augmentation in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: The therapeutic limitations of mainstay psychopharmacological treatments of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) warrant the clinical testing of further add-on agents to improve patients' clinical symptoms. One such agent might be pregabalin, which has been found efficacious in other anxiety disorders. We report on the findings of a small, 8-week open-label trial of adjunctive pregabalin with a 4-week follow-up in 10 OCD patients resistant or only partial responders to a combination of serotonin reuptake inhibitors with atypical antipsychotics. Adjunctive pregabalin at 225-675 mg/d was well tolerated and led to patients' substantial improvement in their OCD symptoms, as reflected in their scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Despite the several limitations of the study, its results suggest that adjunctive pregabalin might be a safe and efficacious new augmentation agent in the treatment of drug-resistant OCD. We hypothesize that pregabalin's mechanism of action in OCD might consist in its inhibition of glutamatergic neurotransmission.
authors: First Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, Eginition Hospital, Greece. oulisp@med.uoa.gr
authors: Panagiotis
authors: P
authors: Oulis
authors: Iraklis
authors: I
authors: Mourikis
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Konstantakopoulos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000069583:Pregabalin; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000069583:Pregabalin; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid