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| |  ICPDMD: Seroquel (Quetiapine) May Improve Cognitive Function In Parkinson's Patients BARCELONA, SPAIN -- June 13, 2000 -- New research presented for the first time at the 6th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Barcelona, suggest that the atypical antipsychotic SeroquelTM (quetiapine) could improve cognitive function in Parkinson’s disease patients suffering psychotic symptoms. The new study, involving 29 patients with Parkinson's disease related psychosis, found that six months treatment with up to 400 mg of quetiapine daily produced significant improvements in sustained attention and delayed story recall - two important measures of cognitive function - when compared to control. In the 24-week open label, single-centre study conducted by Dr JL Juncos and Dr VJ Roberts(1), from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, USA, cognitive function was assessed immediately prior to treatment and after six months therapy, and compared to a control group of twelve non-psychotic Parkinson’s disease patients. The study revealed that patients taking quetiapine exhibited significantly greater improvement (change from baseline) in verbal memory and sustained attention at six months compared with the control group. In addition, there were significant improvements from baseline in immediate and delayed memory in the quetiapine group, whereas the control group showed no change. There were no significant group differences in change from baseline for Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE and simple attention task). Cognitive impairment is a recognised consequence of psychotic illness and can be worsened by treatment with older antipsychotic agents. Antipsychotic treatment can have adverse effects on almost all domains in cognitive function, and these effects are particularly evident in the areas of memory, attention and executive function. There is growing evidence to suggest that cognitive impairment may have a profound effect on patients' social and occupational functioning and thus may limit long-term outcome and quality of life.(2) "These new research findings are an important follow-up to the already-reported beneficial effect of quetiapine in psychotic symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease(3)," commented Dr Juncos. "Frequently, the treatment of Parkinson's disease is associated with psychotic side effects. As such, in treating one condition effectively, we may actually cause a second in some patients. What our results suggest is that quetiapine is effective in improving both cognitive function and psychotic symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients with treatment-emergent psychosis. This offers new hope - if we can treat Parkinson's disease psychosis secure in the knowledge that we will not worsen or could even improve cognitive function, then this could greatly improve the quality of life of our patients." SeroquelTM is currently licensed for the treatment of psychoses associated with Parkinson's disease in the US and Italy. SeroquelTM (quetiapine) is manufactured by AstraZeneca and is currently approved in over sixty markets, including US, Canada, UK, many European countries, South Africa and South America. The drug has demonstrated broad-based efficacy in the treatment of positive, negative, cognitive and affective symptoms of schizophrenia and has a favourable tolerability profile, with an incidence of EPS and prolactin level elevation no different to placebo even at the highest recommended doses, and minimal weight change. References: Related Links: Seroquel (quetiapine) and AstraZeneca.
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