Gender, aggression and serotonergic function are associated with response to sertraline for behavioral disturbances in Alzheimer's disease
✍ Scribed by Krista L. Lanctôt; Nathan Herrmann; Robert van Reekum; Goran Eryavec; Claudio A. Naranjo
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2002
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 120 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6230
- DOI
- 10.1002/gps.636
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background:
Indications for serotonergic medications in the treatment of behavioral disorders associated with alzheimer's disease (ad) remain to be established.
Method:
Sertraline (100 mg od) was evaluated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled cross-over study in 22 nondepressed patients with severe probable ad and significant behavioral disturbance. each subject was given a fenfluramine challenge to evaluate central serotonergic tone.
Results:
Eight of 21 (38%) completers responded to sertraline. drug responsive behaviors included aggression/agitation, irritability and aberrant motor behavior. low aggression, female gender and large prolactin increase were associated with a better response. there was a trend for decreased aggression during sertraline versus placebo (p = 0.08).
Conclusion:
Aggression, gender and serotonergic function were associated with sertraline response. larger randomized controlled trials are needed to clarify the profile of responders.