NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) paroxetine retards the onset and progression of neurodegeneration in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease, researchers report in the April issue of the Annals of Neurology.
As lead investigator Dr. Wenzhen Duan told Reuters Health, “our preclinical findings provide a rationale for further investigating the effects of SSRIs in human Huntington’s patients.”
SSRIs can attenuate psychiatric abnormalities in Huntington’s disease patients, note Dr. Duan of the National Institute of Aging Gerontology Research Center, Baltimore and colleagues. To investigate the potential effects of SSRIs on the neurodegenerative process in Huntington’s disease, they conducted studies in huntingtin mutant mice.
Compared with vehicle-treated mice, the animals given subcutaneous daily injections of paroxetine showed delayed onset of motor dysfunction, attenuated weight loss, improved motor function and increased survival.
The delay of the onset of behavioral symptoms was significant (14 days) as was the increase in maximum life span (15 days).
Furthermore, paroxetine showed beneficial effects whether or not it was given before the onset of motor dysfunction.
Because patients can be treated with SSRIs for “many years with few or no side effects,” Dr. Duan concluded, “this class of SSRIs might be given to individuals who harbor HD-causing polyglutamine expansions in huntingtin, before becoming symptomatic.”
Source: Ann Neurol 2004;55:590-594. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Animal Diseases: Disease Models, Animal: DiseasesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
