Tardive dyskinesia (TD) remains a significant problem for patients and phys
icians. Several reports have suggested that vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) can be
helpful in the treatment of some neuroleptic-induced movement disorders, in
cluding parkinsonism and TD. This report presents the results of a prelimin
ary Study of five patients with TD who underwent a four week open-label cli
nical trial of vitamin B6 (100 mg/d) in addition to their regular medicatio
ns. The severity of the involuntary movements was assessed using the Abnorm
al Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS), Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale (BARS)
and the Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS). The patients' clinical status was assess
ed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). With the addition of vit
amin B6 to their treatment, four patients had clinically significant (great
er than 30%) improvement on the measures of involuntary movement and, in th
ree cases, there was also clinically significant improvement on the BPRS. N
one of the patients had side effects attributable to vitamin B6. The result
s suggest that vitamin B6 may alleviate TD, but it will need to be further
tested in controlled double-blind trials.