BROMOCRIPTINE THERAPY IN MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS - AN OPEN-LABEL PILOT-STUDY

Bromocriptine suppresses the duration and severity of clinical signs o f experimental allergic encephalitis, which is considered as an animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS). We conducted an open pilot study w ith 2.5 mg of bromocriptine two times a day on 18 patients with clinic ally or laboratory supported definite MS (10 with the relapsing-remitt ing form and eight with the chronic progressive form). After 1 year of treatment, 14 of the 15 patients who completed the study showed disea se progression as evidenced by one or more of the following parameters : worsening of the EDSS score, clinical relapses, appearance of new le sions on MRI of the brain and brainstem, or increased latencies of vis ual or auditory evoked responses. These findings indicate that bromocr iptine does not completely suppresses ongoing disease activity in pati ents with multiple sclerosis.