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Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior Jan 1984The reward summation function is the plot of self-stimulation performance as a function of the number of pulses in a train of fixed duration. It has previously been...
The reward summation function is the plot of self-stimulation performance as a function of the number of pulses in a train of fixed duration. It has previously been shown that drugs that impair performance compress this curve but do not shift it laterally; whereas when the reinforcing efficacy is reduced by reducing current intensity, the curve shifts laterally. The amount of the shift is a measure of the magnitude of a drug's effect upon reinforcing efficacy. We report here that pimozide shifts the curve to the right in a dose-dependent manner, indicating an impairment of reinforcing efficacy, while amphetamine shifts it to the left, indicating an enhancement of reinforcing efficacy. When the two drugs are given together their effects on the reward summation function cancel out. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that pimozide and amphetamine exert their effects on reinforcing efficacy via one and the same set of dopaminergic synapses.
Topics: Amphetamine; Animals; Drug Antagonism; Electric Stimulation; Male; Pimozide; Rats; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward; Self Stimulation
PubMed: 6695003
DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(84)90104-7 -
Journal of Neural Transmission 1978The effects of pimozide (a dopamine receptor blocker) and bromocriptine (a dopamine receptor agonist) on the mitotic incidence in the anterior pituitary in male rats was...
The effects of pimozide (a dopamine receptor blocker) and bromocriptine (a dopamine receptor agonist) on the mitotic incidence in the anterior pituitary in male rats was investigated. It was shown that pimozide enhanced anterior pituitary mitotic activity in male rats. Bromocriptine, in turn, suppressed anterior pituitary cell proliferation in estradiol-treated male rats. A dopaminergic control of anterior pituitary mitotic activity is suggested.
Topics: Animals; Bromocriptine; Estradiol; Male; Mitosis; Pimozide; Pituitary Gland, Anterior; Rats; Receptors, Dopamine
PubMed: 690630
DOI: 10.1007/BF01675313 -
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology May 1979
Topics: Basal Ganglia Diseases; Chronic Disease; Half-Life; Humans; Male; Pimozide; Schizophrenia; Time Factors
PubMed: 475950
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1979.tb01001.x -
Physiology & Behavior 1986The effects of pimozide were examined in a runway paradigm using food reward. Rats received one of three doses of pimozide, vehicle or Ringer's prior to testing. Two...
The effects of pimozide were examined in a runway paradigm using food reward. Rats received one of three doses of pimozide, vehicle or Ringer's prior to testing. Two additional groups received pimozide or vehicle after the test trial in the home cage. An extinction group received no food in the goal box on test days. Several components of running behavior were assessed as was food consumed in the goal box. Effects of pimozide on general locomotor activity were assessed in the open-field following the runway phase. Results of the runway indicated that pimozide-treated rats differed from the extinction group in latencies to leave the start box and enter the goal box. Pimozide-treated rats consumed less saccharin-flavored food than controls. The post-treatment pimozide group showed a reduction in saccharin-food intake suggesting a conditioned taste aversion. Thus, the reduction observed in the pretreated pimozide group may be due to some unconditioned aversion induced by the drug. Open-field revealed that pimozide resulted in lower activity than controls. This study indicates that the effects of pimozide on food reinforcement are not similar to the effects seen in extinction. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the effects of pimozide, in this paradigm, constitute an interference with motor responses as opposed to an attenuation of reward properties of the stimuli.
Topics: Animals; Appetitive Behavior; Extinction, Psychological; Male; Motor Activity; Pimozide; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Saccharin; Tartrates
PubMed: 3703975
DOI: 10.1016/0031-9384(86)90315-x -
Archives of General Psychiatry Aug 1989The results of this controlled study of the treatment of 57 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome suggested that both haloperidol and pimozide were more... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial Comparative Study Randomized Controlled Trial
The results of this controlled study of the treatment of 57 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome suggested that both haloperidol and pimozide were more effective than placebo, but that haloperidol was slightly more effective than pimozide. Adverse effects occurred more frequently with haloperidol vs placebo than with pimozide vs placebo, but the frequency was not significantly different for haloperidol compared with pimozide. Clinically significant cardiac effects did not occur at a maximum dosage of 0.3 mg/kg or 20 mg/d for pimozide and 10 mg/d for haloperidol. However, the QTc interval was prolonged during pimozide treatment compared with that during haloperidol treatment, although the values for both medications were not in an abnormal range.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Clinical Trials as Topic; Double-Blind Method; Electrocardiography; Female; Haloperidol; Heart; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; Pimozide; Placebos; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Random Allocation; Retrospective Studies; Tourette Syndrome
PubMed: 2665687
DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810080052006 -
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology Apr 1992
Topics: Adult; Delusions; Depressive Disorder; Dopamine; Drinking; Humans; Hypothalamus; Male; Paranoid Disorders; Pimozide; Polyuria; Suicide
PubMed: 1307220
DOI: 10.1097/00004714-199204000-00017 -
The American Journal of Psychiatry Aug 1997The authors evaluated the relative efficacy and safety of pimozide and haloperidol in the treatment of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome in children and adolescents. (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial Comparative Study Randomized Controlled Trial
OBJECTIVE
The authors evaluated the relative efficacy and safety of pimozide and haloperidol in the treatment of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome in children and adolescents.
METHOD
A double-blind, 24-week, placebo-controlled double crossover study of equivalent dose formulations of haloperidol and pimozide was conducted with 22 subjects, aged 7-16 years, with Tourette's disorder who were randomly assigned to first one active drug treatment and then the other. Biweekly assessment and flexible dose titration mimicked clinical practice. The primary outcome variable was total score on the Tourette Syndrome Global Scale. Final outcome was determined after 6 weeks of each treatment (placebo, pimozide, haloperidol), with a 2-week placebo baseline period and intervening 2-week placebo washout periods between treatments.
RESULTS
Pimozide proved significantly different from placebo in affecting the primary outcome variable, whereas haloperidol failed to have a significant effect. Haloperidol exhibited a threefold higher frequency of serious side effects and significantly greater extrapyramidal symptoms relative to pimozide. Haloperidol-associated treatment-limiting adverse events were experienced by 41% of the patients. The therapeutic doses of pimozide and haloperidol were equivalent (mean = 3.4 mg/day, SD = 1.6, and mean = 3.5 mg/day, SD = 2.2, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS
At equivalent doses, pimozide is superior to haloperidol for controlling symptoms of Tourette's disorder in children and adolescents.
Topics: Adolescent; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Child; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Haloperidol; Humans; Male; Patient Selection; Pimozide; Placebos; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Severity of Illness Index; Tourette Syndrome; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 9247389
DOI: 10.1176/ajp.154.8.1057 -
Transactions of the American... 1974
Clinical Trial
Topics: Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Evaluation; Humans; Movement Disorders; Phenothiazines; Pimozide
PubMed: 4618685
DOI: No ID Found -
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry Dec 1991
Topics: Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Delusions; Drug Administration Schedule; Humans; Hypochondriasis; Pimozide; Tourette Syndrome
PubMed: 1752855
DOI: No ID Found -
The Medical Letter on Drugs and... Jan 1985
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Drug Interactions; Haloperidol; Humans; Pimozide; Tourette Syndrome
PubMed: 3855327
DOI: No ID Found