E-MOVE Research News
Subject: Symptomatic Effect of Lamotrigine in HD
Date: 10/1/1999
Influence of lamotrigine on progression of early Huntington disease
B Kremer, CM Clark, EW Almqvist, LA Raymond, P Graf, C Jakova, M Mezei, MA Hardy, B Snow, W Martin, MR Hayden
Neurology 1999;53:1000-1011
Lamotrigine does not slow Huntington's disease progression, but can improve symptoms and may lessen chorea, according to this double-blind study.
Sixty-four patients with HD of less than five years' duration received either placebo or lamotrigine (up to 400 mg/day), with evaluations at baseline, 12, 24, and 30 months. Primary outcome measure was Total Functional Capacity Score, with a quantified neurologic exam and cognitive and motor tests as secondary variables.
No difference was seen between lamotrigine and placebo for any of the primary or secondary outcome variables. However, 53.6% of patients on lamotrigine reported symptomatic improvement, vs. 14.8% of those on placebo, and the chorea subscale measure showed less deterioration for lamotrigine than for placebo (p=0.08). The authors note "The symptomatic relief in patients on lamotrigine is unexplained but may be due to the antichoreic effect seen in this study, or may reflect mild mood-elevating properties of the drug."
