Citalopram to Enhance Cognition in HD

Summary

This research plan proposes to conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial in 36 adults with mild Huntington's disease (HD) to address the following research aims: 1. To determine the effect of citalopram compared to placebo in patients with early HD on executive function and other outcome variables including functional measures (health-related quality of life, work productivity, and self-reported attention), motor performance, and psychiatric status, 2. To study the relationship between executive function and functional status in patients with early HD after selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, and 3. To examine the effect of citalopram treatment on volumetric and metabolic (i.e, N-acetyl-aspartate concentration) measures in the neostriatum among patients with recently diagnosed Huntington's disease.

Timeline

Start

2005-11

Primary completion

2011-04

Completion

2011-11

Publications

• Background Aylward EH, Anderson NB, Bylsma FW, Wagster MV, Barta PE, Sherr M, Feeney J, Davis A, Rosenblatt A, Pearlson GD, Ross CA. Frontal lobe volume in patients with Huntington's disease. Neurology. 1998 Jan;50(1):252-8. doi: 10.1212/wnl.50.1.252.
• Background Bauer A, Zilles K, Matusch A, Holzmann C, Riess O, von Horsten S. Regional and subtype selective changes of neurotransmitter receptor density in a rat transgenic for the Huntington's disease mutation. J Neurochem. 2005 Aug;94(3):639-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2005.03169.x.
• Background Bonelli RM, Wenning GK, Kapfhammer HP. Huntington's disease: present treatments and future therapeutic modalities. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2004 Mar;19(2):51-62. doi: 10.1097/00004850-200403000-00001.
• Background Como PG, Rubin AJ, O'Brien CF, Lawler K, Hickey C, Rubin AE, Henderson R, McDermott MP, McDermott M, Steinberg K, Shoulson I. A controlled trial of fluoxetine in nondepressed patients with Huntington's disease. Mov Disord. 1997 May;12(3):397-401. doi: 10.1002/mds.870120319.
• Background Duan W, Guo Z, Jiang H, Ladenheim B, Xu X, Cadet JL, Mattson MP. Paroxetine retards disease onset and progression in Huntingtin mutant mice. Ann Neurol. 2004 Apr;55(4):590-4. doi: 10.1002/ana.20075.
• Background Fennema-Notestine C, Archibald SL, Jacobson MW, Corey-Bloom J, Paulsen JS, Peavy GM, Gamst AC, Hamilton JM, Salmon DP, Jernigan TL. In vivo evidence of cerebellar atrophy and cerebral white matter loss in Huntington disease. Neurology. 2004 Sep 28;63(6):989-95. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000138434.68093.67.
• Background Kish SJ, Shannak K, Hornykiewicz O. Elevated serotonin and reduced dopamine in subregionally divided Huntington's disease striatum. Ann Neurol. 1987 Sep;22(3):386-9. doi: 10.1002/ana.410220318.
• Background Menza M, Marin H, Kaufman K, Mark M, Lauritano M. Citalopram treatment of depression in Parkinson's disease: the impact on anxiety, disability, and cognition. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2004 Summer;16(3):315-9. doi: 10.1176/jnp.16.3.315.
• Background Murman DL, Giordani B, Mellow AM, Johanns JR, Little RJ, Hariharan M, Foster NL. Cognitive, behavioral, and motor effects of the NMDA antagonist ketamine in Huntington's disease. Neurology. 1997 Jul;49(1):153-61. doi: 10.1212/wnl.49.1.153.
• Background Naarding P, Kremer HP, Zitman FG. Huntington's disease: a review of the literature on prevalence and treatment of neuropsychiatric phenomena. Eur Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;16(8):439-45. doi: 10.1016/s0924-9338(01)00604-6.
• Background Patel SV, Tariot PN, Asnis J. L-Deprenyl augmentation of fluoxetine in a patient with Huntington's disease. Ann Clin Psychiatry. 1996 Mar;8(1):23-6. doi: 10.3109/10401239609149087.
• Background Ranen NG, Lipsey JR, Treisman G, Ross CA. Sertraline in the treatment of severe aggressiveness in Huntington's disease. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1996 Summer;8(3):338-40. doi: 10.1176/jnp.8.3.338.
• Background Reynolds GP, Dalton CF, Tillery CL, Mangiarini L, Davies SW, Bates GP. Brain neurotransmitter deficits in mice transgenic for the Huntington's disease mutation. J Neurochem. 1999 Apr;72(4):1773-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1999.721773.x.
• Background Reynolds GP, Pearson SJ. Decreased glutamic acid and increased 5-hydroxytryptamine in Huntington's disease brain. Neurosci Lett. 1987 Jul 22;78(2):233-8. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(87)90639-2.
• Background Rosas HD, Koroshetz WJ, Chen YI, Skeuse C, Vangel M, Cudkowicz ME, Caplan K, Marek K, Seidman LJ, Makris N, Jenkins BG, Goldstein JM. Evidence for more widespread cerebral pathology in early HD: an MRI-based morphometric analysis. Neurology. 2003 May 27;60(10):1615-20. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000065888.88988.6e.
• Background Shoulson I, Goldblatt D, Charlton M, Joynt RJ. Huntington's disease: treatment with muscimol, a GABA-mimetic drug. Ann Neurol. 1978 Sep;4(3):279-84. doi: 10.1002/ana.410040316.
• Background Yohrling IV GJ, Jiang GC, DeJohn MM, Robertson DJ, Vrana KE, Cha JH. Inhibition of tryptophan hydroxylase activity and decreased 5-HT1A receptor binding in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. J Neurochem. 2002 Sep;82(6):1416-23. doi: 10.1046/j.1471-4159.2002.01084.x.
• Beglinger LJ, Adams WH, Fiedorowicz JG, Duff K, Langbehn D, Biglan K, Caviness J, Olson B, Paulsen JS. Practice Effects and Stability of Neuropsychological and UHDRS Tests Over Short Retest Intervals in Huntington Disease. J Huntingtons Dis. 2015;4(3):251-60. doi: 10.3233/JHD-150159.
• Beglinger LJ, Adams WH, Langbehn D, Fiedorowicz JG, Caviness J, Biglan K, Olson B, Paulsen JS. Does interval between screening and baseline matter in HD cognitive clinical trials? J Huntingtons Dis. 2014;3(2):139-44. doi: 10.3233/JHD-140100.
• Beglinger LJ, Adams WH, Langbehn D, Fiedorowicz JG, Jorge R, Biglan K, Caviness J, Olson B, Robinson RG, Kieburtz K, Paulsen JS. Results of the citalopram to enhance cognition in Huntington disease trial. Mov Disord. 2014 Mar;29(3):401-5. doi: 10.1002/mds.25750. Epub 2013 Dec 27.

Drugs

Indications