Celecoxib hastens response to risperidone in patients with schizophrenia

Last Updated: 2002-06-14 16:03:29 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding celecoxib to risperidone for treatment of acute exacerbations of schizophrenic psychosis enhances improvements in psychopathology, German investigators report.

In a prospective study, 25 patients hospitalized for schizophrenia exacerbation were randomized to treatment with risperidone, 2 mg/day to 6 mg/day, plus placebo. Another 25 received risperidone and celecoxib 200 mg b.i.d. Dr. Norbert Müller and associates of Ludwig Maximillians University in Munich evaluated the patients at weekly intervals for 5 weeks.

According to a report in the American Journal of Psychiatry for June, those receiving celecoxib experienced significantly more improvement than those receiving placebo in total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores (p=0.05). Earlier improvement was observed in positive symptoms (p=0.03), negative symptoms (p=0.005) and general psychopathology (p=0.02).

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