Varenicline improves motor and cognitive symptoms in early Huntington's disease

The aim of this study was to describe the effects of varenicline, a smoking cessation aid that acts as a nicotinic agonist, on cognitive function in patients with early clinical Huntington's disease (HD) who were current smokers. Three gene-positive patients transitioning to symptomatic HD were...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment 2016-01, Vol.12, p.2381-2386
Hauptverfasser: McGregor, Ailsa L, Dysart, Jo, Tingle, Malcolm D, Russell, Bruce R, Kydd, Rob R, Finucane, Gregory
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The aim of this study was to describe the effects of varenicline, a smoking cessation aid that acts as a nicotinic agonist, on cognitive function in patients with early clinical Huntington's disease (HD) who were current smokers. Three gene-positive patients transitioning to symptomatic HD were evaluated using the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale part I and III (motor and behavioral subscales) at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment. Cognitive function was assessed using a touch screen computer-based neurocognitive test battery (IntegNeuro ). Varenicline (1 mg twice daily) significantly improved performance in executive function and emotional recognition tasks. Our case reports describe no clinically significant adverse effects and suggest that varenicline improves aspects of cognitive function in patients with early HD. A randomized controlled study is now underway.
ISSN:1176-6328
1178-2021
1178-2021
DOI:10.2147/NDT.S111083