Clinical study on the psychotropic effects of caerulein - an open clinical trial in chronic schizophrenic patients

An open clinical trial of caerulein diethylamine, a eholecystokinin analogue, was performed in a total of 58 chronic schizophrenic patients maintained on drugs such as antipsychotic agents without dosage modification. The neuropeptide medication by intramuscular route produced a clinical improvement in 20 cases and was eventually assessed to have been of therapeutic value in 23 cases. Clinical responses to the medication observed in the present series included: subjective changes in mood mostly to become feeling “fine” or “refreshed in the head”, improvement in contact, increased spontaneity and objective behavioral changes such as restlessness and excitement. These features of clinical responses observed in respect of mental condition seem to indicate that the drug affects emotion and exerts an analeptic effect as its principal clinical effects. The clinical effects were remarkably long sustained for 1-2 weeks after a single i.m. dose in most responders. Feeling of facial warmth and lassitude as well as symptoms of the gastrointestinal system were encountered as attendant symptoms in 6 cases.