What are the experimental drugs for slowing the progression of HD that patients are asking about?
A variety of medications aimed at slowing progression in symptomatic patients are being actively tested in transgenic mice with an HD phenotype as well as in phase II and phase III clinical trials. These trials are often well publicized and patients not participating in the trials frequently ask about taking the medications. Categories of medications being tested include glutamate antagonists, antioxidant medications, energy enhancers, and antiapoptotic agents, among others. Although there is an experimental basis for these trials, they are in early phases of testing and none have yet come all the way through phase III testing and shown demonstrable efficacy. A phase III trial of the glutamate blocker Remacemide alone or in combination with coenzyme Q10 is being completed currently by the Huntington Study Group (HSG). Results should be known in 2001. An industry-sponsored phase III trial of eicosapentanoate (a phospholipid isolated from fish oil) is ongoing. Ongoing or planned phase II
