title: Pridopidine for the treatment of Huntington's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Huntington's disease is a rare dominantly-inherited neurodegenerative disease with motor, cognitive and behavioral manifestations. It results from an expanded unstable trinucleotide repeat in the coding region of the huntingtin gene. Treatment is symptomatic, but a poor evidence baseguides selection of therapeutic agents. Non-choreic derangements in voluntary movement contribute to overall motor disability and are poorly addressed by current therapies. Pridopidine is a novel agent in the dopidine class believed to have 'state dependent' effects at dopamine receptors, thus show promise in the treatment of these disorders of voluntary movement.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review discusses the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of pridopidine and reviews clinical trials supporting development of the drug for HD. This information was culled from literature searches for dopidines, pridopidine, and HD experimental therapeutics in PubMed and at http://www.clinicaltrials.org .
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a compelling need to discover new treatments for motor disability in HD, particularly for non-choreic motor symptoms. While pridopidine failed to achieve its primary efficacy outcomes in 2 large trials, reproducible effects on secondary motor outcomes have fueled an ongoing trial studying higher doses and more focused clinical endpoints. This and phase III trials will define define the utility of pridopidine for HD.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Neurological Sciences , Rush Medical College, Rush University Medical Center , Chicago , IL USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Shannon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010880:Piperidines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D015259:Dopamine Agents; D010880:Piperidines; C483720:pridopidine
keywords: Huntington’s disease; chorea; clinical trials; dopamine; dopamine receptor; dopamine stabilizer; dopidine; pridopidine; voluntary motor disorder