STUDY OBJECTIVES To compare pregabalin versus placebo and pramipexole for reducing restless legs syndrome (RLS)-related sleep disturbance. DESIGN Randomized, double-blinded, crossover trial. SETTING Twenty-three US sleep centers. PARTICIPANTS Eighty-five individuals with moderate to severe idiopathic RLS and associated sleep disturbance. INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomized across...

The D₂/D₃ receptor agonist pramipexole has clinical efficacy as an antidepressant, but its neural mechanisms are unknown. We used ¹⁸FDG-PET to investigate the cerebral metabolic effects of pramipexole augmentation of mood stabilizers in bipolar II depression. Fifteen bipolar II depressed patients on mood stabilizers were imaged at baseline and following 6 wk of pramipexole (n=7) or placebo (n=8...

OBJECTIVE Pramipexole was recently approved in the US for treatment of the symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Although pramipexole has been found to be safe and efficacious when compared with placebo, little data are yet available on its cost effectiveness when compared with baseline treatment. The aim of this study was to estimate the costs and cost effectiveness (cost utility) o...

Previous studies have shown neuroprotective effects of hypothermia. However, its effects on subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-induced early brain injury (EBI) remain unclear. In this study, a SAH rat model was employed to study the effects and mechanisms of pramipexole-induced hypothermia on EBI after SAH. Dose-response experiments were performed to select the appropriate pramipexole concentration ...

The aim of the present study was to look at the long-term efficacy and side effects profiles of pramipexole in a large cohort of drug naïve patients with regard to dopaminergic medications. In all, 195 consecutive restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients who were prescribed pramipexole more than 1 year previously, agreed to undergo a telephone interview to assess both the efficacy and side effects...

OBJECTIVE To assess the risks and benefits of pramipexole in psychiatric populations. DATA SOURCES A PubMed search was performed using the keywords pramipexole and ropinirole, which identified 500 articles. STUDY SELECTION All clinical studies in psychiatric populations were included in the primary review (24 articles). Studies involving other populations were then reviewed to evaluate pote...

AIMS To investigate the effects of the D2-receptor agonist pramipexole with and without the co-administration of the peripherally acting D2-receptor antagonist domperidone on measures of alertness, autonomic and endocrine function. METHODS Sixteen male volunteers participated in four weekly sessions of pramipexole 0.5 mg, domperidone 40 mg, their combination, and placebo administered accordin...

Recent case reports suggest a possible causal correlation between antecollis and pramipexole. Here, we report the case of a 62-year-old Italian man with a 2-year history of Parkinson's disease (PD) and cervical spondylosis for which he was treated with pramipexole. He developed severe neck rigidity immediately after an inguinal hernia operation but several months after introduction of pramipexo...

The non-ergot dopamine agonist pramipexole is currently indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease and for the treatment of moderate-to-severe primary restless legs syndrome. A new extended-release formulation of pramipexole has now also been launched in Europe and the US to improve ease of use, compliance and provide a more continuous therapeutic ef...

We investigated the mechanism of renal tubular secretion of the dopamine D2 receptor agonist pramipexole in rats, focusing on organic cation transporters 1 and 2. The uptake of [14C]pramipexole by Xenopus oocytes injected with complementary RNA of either rat organic cation transporter (rOCT) 1 or rOCT2 was significantly higher than that by water-injected oocytes: the kinetic parameters, K(m) an...