Amantadine to improve neurorecovery in traumatic brain injury-associated diffuse axonal injury: a pilot double-blind randomized trial

J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2002 Aug;17(4):300-13. doi: 10.1097/00001199-200208000-00004.

Abstract

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a high-speed transportation accident results in a mechanism of injury commonly described as diffuse axonal injury (DAI), which is associated with a reduction in dopamine turnover in the brain. Because of its affect on both dopamine and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) channels, amantadine has been the subject of considerable interest and clinical use in acute TBI.

Participants: In this study, 35 subjects, who had a TBI in a transportation accident and were initially seen with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 10 or less within the first 24 hours after admission, were randomly assigned to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design trial.

Main outcome measures: Amantadine, 200 mg, or placebo was each administered for 6 weeks (12 weeks total) to patients who were recruited consecutively.

Results: There was an improvement in the Mini-Mental Status (MMSE) scores of 14.3 points (P =.0185), Disability Rating Scale (DRS) score of 9.8 points (P =.0022), Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score of 0.8 points (P =.0077), and in the FIM Cognitive score (FIM-cog) of 15.1 points (P =.0033) in the group that received amantadine during the first 6 weeks (group 1), but there was no improvement in the second 6 weeks on placebo (P >.05). In group 2 (active drug second 6 weeks), there was an improvement in the MMSE of 10.5 points, in the DRS of 9.4 points (P =.0006), in the GOS of 0.5 points (P =.0231), and in the FIM-cog of 11.3 points (P =.0030, Wilcoxon signed rank) spontaneously in the first 6 weeks on placebo (P =.0015). However, group 2 gained a statistically significant additional 6.3 points of recovery in the MMSE (P =.0409), 3.8 points in the DRS (P =.0099), 0.5 points in the GOS (P =.4008), and 5.2 points in the FIM-cog (P =.0173, Wilcoxon signed rank) between the sixth week and the twelfth week of treatment on the active drug.

Conclusions: There was a consistent trend toward a more rapid functional improvement regardless of when a patient with DAI-associated TBI was started on amantadine in the first 3 months after injury.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Accidents, Traffic
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Amantadine / administration & dosage*
  • Axons / drug effects*
  • Axons / pathology
  • Brain Injuries / diagnosis*
  • Brain Injuries / drug therapy*
  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Dopamine Agents / administration & dosage*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Glasgow Coma Scale
  • Humans
  • Injury Severity Score
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pilot Projects
  • Probability
  • Recovery of Function
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Dopamine Agents
  • Amantadine