EFFECT OF BUSPIRONE, A SEROTONERGIC 5-HT1 A AGONIST, IN CEREBELLAR-ATAXIA - A PILOT-STUDY

We propose a serotonergic hypothesis for cerebellar ataxia. The levoro tatory form of 5 hydroxytryptophan has been shown to be partially acti ve in subtypes of cerebellar ataxia, including cerebellar cortical atr ophy (CCA). Buspirone, a 5-HT1A agonist usable inhuman medecine, has b een studied in a group of 14 patients with cerebellar cortical atrophy . Patients were given Buspirone for 2 months. The evaluation of cerebe llar ataxia was made by a semi-quantitative scale, 10 fully quantitati ve measures and measurements of the sway path and sway area of the cen ter of gravity at posturography. The primary endpoints were the modifi cations of the ataxia scores. At 2 months, the decrease of the ataxia scores was significant, both in the intention-to-treat (14 cases) and target (11 cases) populations. In the target population, secundary end points like the time measurements for pronouncing a standard sentence, the time for drawing a ladder and posturographic parameters were sign ificantly improved; the mean global ataxia score was improved by 37.4% . These preliminary date might confirm a link between cerebellar ataxi a and the metabolism of serotonin.