NEWS HIGHLIGHTSMedia Articles Related to Rilutek (Riluzole)
Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells Offer Hope For Treatment Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Source: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS News From Medical News Today [2013.05.29]
Transplantation of human stem cells in an experiment conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison improved survival and muscle function in rats used to model ALS, a nerve disease that destroys nerve control of muscles, causing death by respiratory failure. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is sometimes called "Lou Gehrig's disease...
Hidden Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cells Revealed By Fluorescence
Source: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS News From Medical News Today [2013.05.02]
A small group of elusive neurons in the brain's cortex play a big role in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. But the neurons have always been difficult to study because there are so few of them and they look so similar to other neurons in the cortex...
Fly Mutation Offers Clues To Potential Treatment For Motor Neuron Diseases Such As Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Source: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS News From Medical News Today [2013.04.10]
A team of researchers, led by Marc Freeman, PhD, an early career scientist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and associate professor of neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have discovered a gene in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that, when mutant, blocks the self-destruction of damaged axons, which could hold clues to treating motor neur...
New Therapy Directly Targets The Cause Of Specific Type Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Source: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS News From Medical News Today [2013.04.05]
The initial clinical trial of a novel approach to treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - blocking production of a mutant protein that causes an inherited form of the progressive neurodegenerative disease - may be a first step towards a new era in the treatment of such disorders...
Role Of Cells Other Than Motor Neurons Much Larger Than Anticipated In The Development Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Source: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS News From Medical News Today [2013.04.03]
Johns Hopkins scientists say they have evidence from animal studies that a type of central nervous system cell other than motor neurons plays a fundamental role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal degenerative disease. The discovery holds promise, they say, for identifying new targets for interrupting the disease's progress...
Published Studies Related to Rilutek (Riluzole)
Riluzole decreases flexion withdrawal reflex but not voluntary ankle torque in human chronic spinal cord injury. [2011.06]
The objectives of this study were to probe the contribution of spinal neuron persistent sodium conductances to reflex hyperexcitability in human chronic spinal cord injury... These results suggest that intrinsic spinal cellular excitability could be a target for managing chronic spinal cord injury hyperreflexia impairments without causing a significant loss in volitional strength.
Safety and efficacy of lithium in combination with riluzole for treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. [2010.05]
BACKGROUND: In a pilot study, lithium treatment slowed progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We aimed to confirm or disprove these findings by assessing the safety and efficacy of lithium in combination with riluzole in patients with ALS... INTERPRETATION: We found no evidence that lithium in combination with riluzole slows progression of ALS more than riluzole alone. The time-to-event endpoint and use of prespecified interim analyses enabled a clear result to be obtained rapidly. This design should be considered for future trials testing the therapeutic efficacy of drugs that are easily accessible to people with ALS. FUNDING: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, ALS Association, and ALS Society of Canada. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Riluzole in cerebellar ataxia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial. [2010.03.09]
BACKGROUND: The pleiotropic effects of riluzole may antagonize common mechanisms underlying chronic cerebellar ataxia, a debilitating and untreatable consequence of various diseases... CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the potential effectiveness of riluzole as symptomatic therapy in diverse forms of cerebellar ataxia. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class I evidence that riluzole reduces, by at least 5 points, the ICARS score in patients with a wide range of disorders that cause cerebellar ataxia (risk difference 63.2%, 95% CI 33.5%-79.9%).
Riluzole for relapse prevention following intravenous ketamine in treatment-resistant depression: a pilot randomized, placebo-controlled continuation trial. [2010.02]
The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor antagonist ketamine may have rapid, albeit transient, antidepressant properties. This study in patients with treatment-resistant major depression (TRD) aimed to (1) replicate the acute efficacy of single-dose intravenous (i.v.) ketamine; (2) test the efficacy of the glutamate-modulating agent riluzole in preventing post-ketamine relapse; and (3) examine whether pretreatment with lamotrigine would attenuate ketamine's psychotomimetic effects and enhance its antidepressant activity.
Safety and efficacy of lithium in combination with riluzole for treatment of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled
trial. [2010]
patients with ALS... INTERPRETATION: We found no evidence that lithium in combination with riluzole
Clinical Trials Related to Rilutek (Riluzole)
Riluzole and Sorafenib Tosylate in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors or Melanoma [Recruiting]
This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of sorafenib tosylate when
given together with riluzole in treating patients with advanced solid tumors or melanoma.
Riluzole may stop or slow the growth of tumor cells. Sorafenib tosylate may stop the growth
of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving riluzole
together with sorafenib tosylate may kill more tumor cells
Efficacy and Tolerability of Riluzole in Treatment Resistant Depression [Recruiting]
Riluzole Augmentation in Treatment-refractory Obsessive-compulsive Disorder [Recruiting]
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects 2-3% of the population and leads to a great deal
of suffering. Many patients benefit from established treatments, the mainstay of which are
cognitive behavioral therapy and a group of antidepressant medications known as serotonin
reuptake inhibitors. However, 20-30% of patients get minimal benefit from these established
therapeutic strategies. New avenues of treatment are urgently needed.
Existing medications for obsessive-compulsive disorder affect the neurotransmitters
serotonin or dopamine; but increasing evidence suggests that functional disruptions of a
different neurotransmitter, glutamate, may contribute to some cases of OCD. The
investigators are therefore interested in using medications that target glutamate as novel
treatment options for those OCD patients who do not benefit from established treatments.
One such medication is the drug riluzole, which is FDA approved for amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, but may be of benefit to patients with psychiatric
disorders due to its ability to moderate excessive glutamate. In preliminary studies, in
which the investigators treated patients with riluzole (in addition to their established
pharmacological regimen) in an open-label fashion (that is, without a placebo-treated
control group), the investigators have found about 40-50% of patients to substantially
improve over 2-3 months.
While immensely promising, these preliminary studies do not prove riluzole is truly a new
beneficial medication for the treatment of OCD; a more rigorous placebo-controlled trial is
needed for that purpose. The investigators are therefore now recruiting patients to
participate in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of riluzole, added to whatever other
OCD medications they are taking.
Riluzole Augmentation Pilot in Depression (RAPID) Trial [Recruiting]
The investigators are doing a research study to find out if riluzole, when taken along with
a standard antidepressant (sertraline) can help people with major depression.
This research study will compare riluzole + sertraline to placebo + sertraline. The
investigators hypothesize that adding riluzole will lead to a better antidepressant
response, in less time, then sertraline alone.
A Pilot Study of Riluzole Versus Placebo in the Treatment of Children and Adolescents With ASD [Not yet recruiting]
This study will examine the potential efficacy and safety of riluzole for core and
associated symptom domains of autism and will explore biological markers of safety and
treatment response.
Reports of Suspected Rilutek (Riluzole) Side Effects
Death (4),
Pyrexia (3),
Agranulocytosis (3),
Respiratory Failure (3),
Confusional State (2),
Pulse Abnormal (2),
Pallor (2),
Hypokalaemia (2),
OFF Label USE (2),
Weight Increased (2), more >>
|
