Citalopram to Enhance Cognition in HD

Summary

This research plan proposes to conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial in 36 adults with mild Huntington's disease (HD) to address the following research aims:

1. To determine the effect of citalopram compared to placebo in patients with early HD on executive function and other outcome variables including functional measures (health-related quality of life, work productivity, and self-reported attention), motor performance, and psychiatric status,
2. To study the relationship between executive function and functional status in patients with early HD after selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, and
3. To examine the effect of citalopram treatment on volumetric and metabolic (i.e, N-acetyl-aspartate concentration) measures in the neostriatum among patients with recently diagnosed Huntington's disease.

Conditions

• Huntington Disease
• Chorea
• Executive Dysfunction

Interventions

DRUG

20mg daily citalopram

a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment administered over 16 weeks

DRUG

Placebo

a daily matching placebo administered over 16 weeks

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

  collaborator NIH

• Cure Huntington's Disease Initiative (CHDI)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Rochester

  collaborator OTHER

• Mayo Clinic

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Iowa

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Leigh J Beglinger, Ph.D. · The University of Iowa Psychiatry Department

• Jess G Fiedorowicz, M.D., Ph.D. · University of Iowa Psychiatry Department

• Kevin Biglan, M.D., M.P.H. · University of Rochester

• John Caviness, M.D. · Mayo Clinic

• Ricardo Jorge, M.D. · University of Iowa Psychiatry Department

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2005-11-30

Primary Completion

2011-04-30

Completion

2011-11-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations