Mi. Botez et al., AMANTADINE HYDROCHLORIDE TREATMENT IN HEREDODEGENERATIVE ATAXIAS - A DOUBLE-BLIND-STUDY, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 61(3), 1996, pp. 259-264
Objective-A group of 27 patients with Friedreich's ataxia and another
group of 30 patients with olivopontocerebellar atrophies were each ran
domly divided into two subgroups, one receiving placebo and the other
amantadine hydrochloride (AH; 200 mg daily) for three to four months.
Methods-The effect of double blind treatment was evaluated by simple v
isual and auditory reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) for both
right and left hands. Results-The subgroup with olivopontocerebellar a
trophies receiving AH showed significant improvement on seven out of e
ight variables studied by analysis of covariance. In patients with Fri
edreich's ataxia, improvement was definitely less. Treatment remained
contraindicated for those with cardiomyopathies or drug intolerance. C
onclusion-The rationale of AH use in heredodegenerative ataxias can be
explained by its replacement effect (dopamine release) and by direct
involvement of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) in glutamate mediated neuro
toxicity in cerebellar granular cells; memantine, an AH analogue, is a
potent blocker of NMDA receptors.