In this pilot study, 72 non-demented and non-depressive elderly hypertensive patients with evidence of leukoaraiosis on cerebral computed tomography scan (Rezek score: > 16) were randomly assigned to receive either nicergoline 30 mg b.i.d. (n = 36) or a placebo (n = 36) for 24 months. All patients received antihypertensives and their hypertension was controlled under treatment. They were evaluated by nine neuropsychological tests exploring memory, concentration, verbal and motor performances, administered at baseline and at every six-month interval during the study period. At baseline, the two groups were comparable for all demographic and clinical characteristics, including cognitive functions, except for the delayed recall of the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), which was better in the placebo group (P = 0.04). Changes in scores over time were compared between the two groups. At the last visit, patients on nicergoline (n = 31) were found to have deteriorated less or to have improved more on test scores than the patients on placebo (n = 30). Significant differences were observed for memory function (AVLT short term recall, P = 0.026; AVLT delayed recall, P = 0.013; and, Benton Visual Retention Test, P = 0.002) and attention and concentration (Letter Cancellation Test, P = 0.043; and, WAIS-R Digit Symbol subtest, P = 0.006). The Rezek score remained unchanged in the two groups. Tolerance of nicergoline was similar to that of placebo. In conclusion, this study shows that nicergoline 30 mg b.i. d. administered over a 24-month period attenuates the deterioration in cognitive functions in elderly hypertensive patients with leukoaraiosis. Whether these effects were specific for this type of white matter changes could not be determined in the context of this pilot study.

The anxiolytic activity and tolerance of four doses of suriclone (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mg tid), diazepam (5 mg tid), and placebo were compared in six parallel groups of 54-59 outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder (DSM III-R). After a 1-week placebo run-in period, the patients were treated for 4 weeks, with assessments at baseline and after 1, 2, and 4 weeks by the Hamilton anxiety scale and the Clinical Global Impressions. Results showed better improvement with active drugs as compared to placebo, without significant differences among the four different doses of suriclone and diazepam. The number of adverse events, particularly drowsiness, was significantly higher with diazepam than with suriclone, particularly 0.1 and 0.2 mg tid which did not differ from placebo. These results demonstrate that suriclone at daily doses ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mg tid is an effective anxiolytic, better tolerated than diazepam.

No abstract

Cord blood lymphocytes (CBL) have been shown to be functionally immature compared with normal circulating adult lymphocytes (NAL). Differentiation of T cells is associated with changes in surface antigenic markers and in the pattern of purine degradative enzymes. Previous studies have demonstrated that thymosin fraction 5 (TMS-F5) and thymosin alpha 1 (TMS-alpha 1) can induce in vitro differentiation of murine T-cell precursors and human thymocytes. We have investigated the effects of TMS-F5 and TMS-alpha 1 on the pattern of the purine degradative enzymes adenosine deaminase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase, and ecto-5'-nucleotidase (5'NT) of CBL and on the phenotypic markers from the OKT series 3, 4, 8 and 11. Other than a significantly reduced level of 5'NT activity (P less than 0.001) and an elevated percentage of OKT4+ cells (P less than 0.01), CBL demonstrated the same immunological and biochemical patterns as NAL. Incubation of CBL with TMS-F5 (150 micrograms/ml) and TMS-alpha 1 (1 microgram/ml) for 40 h caused a significant rise in 5'NT level and decrease of cells positive for OKT4, resulting in a pattern characteristic of NAL. Thus TMS-F5 might induce the terminal differentiation of CBL, and TMS-alpha 1 seemed to be the active component.