HD: Amantadine for Chorea, Reversal of Pathology in Mice, No Effect from Creatine (AAN 2001)

Subject: HD: Amantadine for Chorea, Reversal of Pathology in Mice, No Effect from Creatine (AAN 2001)

Date: 5/19/2001

E-MOVE reports from the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Philadelphia May 5-11, 2001. Poster and Platform session numbers refer to abstracts published in Neurology 2001;56 (Supplement 3).

1. S49.005 A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of the effect of amantadine on chorea in Huntington's disease
L Verhagen, M Morris, C Farmer, M Gillespie, J Wu, TN Chase

Amantadine is effective for chorea in HD, according to this study. Twenty-two patients with HD received either placebo or 300-400 mg amantadine for two weeks, followed by crossover to the other arm. Compared to baseline, treated patients had a 25% decrease in chorea at rest, versus 4% for placebo (p=0.01). An 18% improvement was seen for chorea during activity, versus 5% for placebo (p=0.01). Mean improvements reflect a varied response among patients, in which approximately one third showed improvement of better than 50%, while several patients showed little or no response.

2. S49.002 Reversal of synaptic plasticity impairment in a conditional model of Huntington's disease
O Arancio, F Battaglia, A Yamamoto, P Girlanda, G Vita, A Toscano, A Quartarone, R Hen

Learning impairment in HD mice is reversible if mutant huntingtin is not expressed, according to this report. Mice with conditionally expressible mutant huntingtin were put through a learning task in a radial-arm water maze. Mice expressing mutant huntingtin showed markedly impaired learning compared to controls, which resolved three weeks after suppression of huntingtin expression. Impaired learning was correlated with impaired long-term potentiation, which also resolved with suppression of huntingtin expression. The authors conclude that "continuous influx of the mutant protein is required to maintain impairment of long-term potentiation in the hippocampus, raising the possibility that cognitive deficit in HD may be reversible."

An E-MOVE report on a previous study by the same group using the same model is archived at http://www.wemove.org/emove/article.asp?ID=218

3. Placebo-controlled trial of creatine in Huntington's disease
K Kieburtz, Huntington Study Group

Creatine supplementation does not improve symptoms of HD, according to this report. Ninety- four ambulatory HD patients received either placebo or creatine at 3 grams daily for 2 months, then 5 g daily for 2 months. Virtually all patients completed the trial and no significant adverse effects were seen. No improvement was seen in Total Functional Capacity or UHDRS score.

An E-MOVE report on a successful trial of creatine in HD mice is archived at http://www.wemove.org/emove/article.asp?ID=232

E-MOVE Editor: Richard Robinson, NASW, WE MOVE

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