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Preliminary open trials performed by the authors and others with Moclobemide, a new MAO-A inhibitor, indicated that the drug has a satisfactory antidepressant activity. In the present double-blind study Moclobemide has been compared to placebo in a group of 34 unipolar psychotic or neurotic depressed patients. The mean daily dose of Moclobemide was 297 mg and treatment lasted from two to four weeks. Drug effectiveness was measured by improvements in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), Clinical Global Impression (CGI) and 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The results have shown that the active drug was markedly superior to placebo. The mean total score of HRSD was reduced from 41.7 to 16.5 in 18 pts. treated with Moclobemide and from 36.3 to 29.1 in 16 pts. who received placebo. Self-assessment with VAS showed a mean reduction from 82.7 mm to 42.2 mm and from 84.3 to 70.6 mm respectively. Moderate to marked improvement was observed by the CGI in 15 cases treated with Moclobemide and mild to moderate in 5 cases who received placebo. The treatment was well tolerated.

The trial has been carried out on 33 treated Parkinsonian patients and 14 healthy controls. A series of psychometric tests were employed in order to show a possible intellectual deterioration in Parkinsonian patients. Bender's test showed greater motor-perceptive deterioration in Parkinsonian patients respect to control, the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale evidenced in patients significant deterioration of mnesic and psychomotor capacity. When considering drug treatments patients undergoing combined treatment or anti-cholinergics alone obtained worse results in all tests made whilst patients on L-Dopa alone obtained the best results.

The presence of numerous changes in T lymphocyte activity found in MS patients points to the involvement of the thymus in multiple sclerosis. The etiophathogenetic mechanism of MS is probably an autoimmune reaction that is triggered by a viral infection caused by one or more viruses and that perpetuates itself, causing the disease to progress. It has been proved that the thymus maintains its immunocompetence even in adulthood and that it has a role in the pathogenesis in several autoimmune diseases. In exacerbations of MS there is a decrease in T suppressor lymphocytes while histological and lymphocyte subset changes have been demonstrated in the thymus of MS patients. The lymphocyte response to mitogens is also depressed in MS. The clinical results of thymectomy in MS are not uniform and are on the whole inconclusive, probably through the lack of criteria of selection of patients for surgical treatment. We consider that the morphological and functional study of the thymus biopsy specimen should supply the appropriate criteria of suitability for surgical treatment.

The recently synthesized depot neuroleptic haloperidol decanoate (HD) has been mainly used in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia. In this trial 23 outpatients, 11 male and 12 female, suffering from schizophreniform disorders, according to the DSM III, were treated with 50 mg to 250 mg of HD, every 4 weeks for 12 months. At the end of the trial, the mean dosage of HD administered and BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) mean scores were significantly lower than the initial ones (70.8 mg VS 108 mg, and 21.5 VS 45.7 respectively). In 10 male patients, plasma levels of haloperidol and PRL were evaluated during the first four weeks of treatment. A positive correlation between haloperidol levels and clinical improvement and a significant increase in PRL levels in correspondence with haloperidol plasma peaks, but not with clinical improvement, were observed. These data indicate a dissociation between the effect of haloperidol after HD injection on the limbic dopaminergic system and the effect at the level of the tubero-infundibular system.

A multicenter trial was conducted at 9 Neurology Departments to evaluate the action of L-Deprenyl, a specific monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor, combined with L-Dopa in the treatment of Parkinson disease. In all, 76 patients were treated, 33 women and 43 men, on stable treatment with L-Dopa+ aromatic decarboxylase inhibitors (DI) for at least 6 months. After a 50% reduction of the L-Dopa dose, all received L-Deprenyl 5 mg twice daily for 35 day. The combined treatment resulted in a definite improvement in rigidity, bradykinesia and, most of all, tremor. Further, at the end of treatment fewer patients had depressive symptoms and the total daily number of hours of wellbeing and normal movement increased. 12 patients presented modest side effects, in no case serious enough to warrant suspension of treatment. The trial shows that with the L-Deprenyl + L-Dopa combination the dose of L-Dopa needed to control the disease can be drastically reduced.