The effect of ceruletide on tardive dyskinesia: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.

1. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study of 37 patients with tardive dyskinesia, the therapeutic effect of ceruletide was evaluated. 2. The patients were assigned at random to two groups that received either intramuscular injections of 0.8 micrograms/kg of ceruletide or placebo once weekly for 4 weeks. Conventional neuroleptic medication was not changed 3 weeks prior to and throughout the study period. Tardive dyskinesia was assessed using the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale over an 8-week period. 3. Ceruletide had a more pronounced effect on TD than the placebo however, because of the limited number of subjects examined, the difference between the two groups was not significant. Ceruletide was more effective than placebo in patients under 60 years of age (p less than 0.05) and whose antipsychotic medication was mainly butyrophenones. 4. No serious side effect was noted. 5. The findings suggested that ceruletide therapeutically benefits patients with tardive dyskinesia.