Table 1 Medications used to treat motor symptoms associated with HD
From: The improvement of motor symptoms in Huntington’s disease during cariprazine treatment
Class | Name | Evidence | |
|---|---|---|---|
Drugs approved by the FDA for HD | VMAT2 inhibitor | Tetrabenazine | - Efficacious in reducing hyperkinetic movements - Associated with side-effects |
Deutetrabenazine | - Efficacious in reducing hyperkinetic movements - Associated with less side-effects than TBZ | ||
FDA-approved drugs, but not specifically for HD (off-label use) | Antipsychotic | Aripiprazole | - Showed therapeutic potential in reducing chorea - No efficacy in improving cognition |
Haloperidol | - Some effectiveness in reducing chorea - Some effectiveness in reducing mutant huntingtin aggregate formation in rats - No improvement of functional capacity | ||
Risperidone | - Some effectiveness in improving motor symptoms | ||
Clozapine | - No effectiveness in reducing chorea (but controversial, probably on higher doses, but it increases side-effects) | ||
Dopaminergic stabiliser | Pridopidine | - In development for HD - Reduced UHDRS-modified motor score, but not TMS (only with higher doses, which caused more side-effects) |