title: A triple-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to examine the efficacy of buspirone added to typical antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the addition of buspirone, a partial agonist of 5HT1A receptor, to ongoing treatment with typical antipsychotics would improve the positive and negative symptoms in patients with chronic schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 50 patients including 40 male and 10 female were recruited with chronic schizophrenia who were inpatients at psychiatric teaching hospital or asylums, aged between 18 and 65 years (mean age = 47 ± 10.02). All patients were on the stable dose of typical antipsychotics for at least 1-month, and their acute symptoms were controlled. Patients were allocated in a random fashion: 25 patients to buspirone at 30 mg/day plus typical antipsychotic and 25 patients to placebo plus typical antipsychotic. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), Simpson-Angus extrapyramidal rating scale (SAS) and mini mental state examination (MMSE), were administered at baseline, and 2, 4, and 6 weeks after the addition of buspirone.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 30 mg/day buspirone was well-tolerated, and no clinically important adverse effects were seen. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in MMSE and SAS scales. There was a significant reduction in subscales of negative, general, positive, and total of PANSS over the 6-week trial in buspirone group. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups negative subscale (mean ± standard deviation [SD] = 14.08 ± 1.4 in buspirone group) P = 0.0219, general subscale (mean ± SD = 27.42 ± 2.1 in buspirone group) P = 0.0004, and total subscale (mean ± SD = 55.63 ± 3.9 in buspirone group) P = 0.0298, of PANSS in the 6-week of trial.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that adjunctive treatment with 5HT1A agonist such as buspirone may improve the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Further studies are indicated to determine the efficacy of 5HT1A agonist treatment in chronic schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, Mazandaran University of Psychiatry, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sheikhmoonesi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, Mazandaran University of Psychiatry, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zarghami
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Zareh Hospital, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyyedeh Fatemeh
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Bahari Saravi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Km18 Khazarabad Road, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khalilian
authors.affiliation: Associated Professor of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ala
keywords: 5HT1A; buspirone; chronic schizophrenia