Reports from the Field: Drug improves cognitive function
December 1, 2000 2 minutes read
Reports from the Field: Drug improves cognitive function
A study presented at the 13th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Conference in Munich, Germany, holds out new hope for patients experiencing symptoms of psychosis. Researchers presented evidence from two recent clinical studies that suggest treatment with the atypical antipsychotic Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) significantly improved cognitive function in patients with chronic schizophrenia or Parkinson’s disease who experience symptoms of psychosis.
A six-month, open-label study compared cognition in 29 Parkinson’s patients experiencing psychotic symptoms treated with Seroquel to baseline and to 12 nonpsychotic patients who were not treated with Seroquel. Researchers assessed cognitive function before and after six months of Seroquel therapy.
Patients with Parkinson’s disease experiencing psychotic symptoms who received treatment experienced significant improvement in their ability to remember information and remain attentive compared to baseline, while the control group exhibited no change in delay story recall and significant decline in sustained attention.
"Psychosis is a mental disorder that impairs a person’s ability to recognize reality, communicate, and relate to others," says study researcher Jorge L. Juncos, MD, of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
"Seroquel has been shown to effectively treat the psychotic symptoms without impairment of a person’s ability to interact with the outside world. This study shows Seroquel may benefit some Parkinson’s patients experiencing psychotic symptoms by strengthening their capacity to function in society," he says.
Test scores improve
In a study of Seroquel in 58 patients with chronic schizophrenia, those patients receiving the drug had significant improvement compared with patients receiving haloperidol in an number of aspects of cognitive function, including organization and planning, movement control, learning, and memory.
Cognitive performance on standardized verbal and memory recall tests improved more in patients receiving Seroquel therapy 600 mg per day than for patients receiving Seroquel 300 mg a day or patients receiving haloperidol 12 mg per day.
In a second study involving 25 patients, significant improvements in measures of executive and motor function, learning, and memory were experienced by the Seroquel group, whereas the haloperidol group exhibited improvements only in visuomotor tracking with alteration and story recall.
Seroquel is manufactured by AstraZeneca in Wilmington, DE. Full prescribing information is available on-line at www.seroquel.com.
[See: Juncos JL, Jewart RD, et al. Tolerability, efficacy and cognitive effects of quetiapine in patients with Parkinson’s disease treated for psychotic symptoms. Poster presented at the 13th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Conference. Munich, Germany; September 11-13, 2000. Hellewell JSE. The effect of quetiapine in improving cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Poster presented at the 13th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Conference. Munich, Germany; September 11-13, 2000.]
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