Jw. Maas et al., CLONIDINE PLUS HALOPERIDOL IN THE TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PSYCHOSIS, Journal of clinical psychopharmacology, 15(5), 1995, pp. 361-364
Because of the evidence for increased norepinephrine (NE) production i
n psychotic patients, we studied the effects of combining the az-adren
ergic agonist clonidine with haloperidol for the treatment of schizoph
renic psychosis. Twelve hospitalized schizophrenic patients were taken
off their antipsychotic medication for 2 to 4 weeks before double-bli
nd treatment with haloperidol (20 mg/day) combined with either clonidi
ne or placebo. The group receiving clonidine was significantly more im
proved on the thought disorder subscale of the Brief Psychiatric Ratin
g Scale (p = 0.02). The groups differed initially in the level of nega
tive symptoms, but controlling for this difference statistically by an
alysis of covariance did not change the finding with regard to the sup
eriority of combining clonidine with haloperidol. We conclude that lar
ger treatment trials of combining haloperidol with clonidine are warra
nted.