Improvement of some schizophrenic deficit symptoms with low doses of amisulpride.

Abstract

The authors assessed the effects on primary negative symptoms of low doses of amisulpride, a substituted benzamide neuroleptic with high affinity for D2 and D3 dopamine receptors. Young, drug-free schizophrenic patients with pure negative symptoms participated in a 6-week double-blind trial of placebo (N = 10) or low-dose amisulpride (N = 10). They were assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. Amisulpride significantly improved negative symptoms. Improvement in avolition, attentional impairment, and retardation was significantly greater with amisulpride than with placebo. These findings suggest that some primary negative symptoms may be directly affected by low doses of benzamide neuroleptics.