Eastern Journal of Psychiatry

Register      Login

VOLUME 18 , ISSUE 1 ( January-June, 2015 ) > List of Articles

REVIEW ARTICLE

Resurgence of Penfluridol: Merits and Demerits

Dr Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Dr Rajarshi Bhadra, Dr Utpal Roy, Dr Sumita Bhattacharyya, Dr Jayanta Pal, Dr Siddhartha Shankar Saha

Keywords : penfluridol oral depot, extrapyramidal symptoms, resurgence, adverse effects, Cochrane review

Citation Information : Bhattacharyya DR, Bhadra DR, Roy DU, Bhattacharyya DS, Pal DJ, Saha DS. Resurgence of Penfluridol: Merits and Demerits. 2015; 18 (1):23-29.

DOI: 10.5005/EJP-18-1-23

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 13-10-2021

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2015; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: Penfluridol is oral long acting depot antipsychotic introduced in 1970s. The re-emergence of the molecule in the practicing field draws attention of clinicians. Objectives: The systematic search and review of literature done in order to find current perspectives of use of Penfluridol. Methods: Systematic search of prospective clinical research studies has been done. Cochrane Database review of twenty-seven studies done with a total of 1024 patients revealed that penfluridol was superior to placebo in improvement in clinical global impression and reduces the need of additional antipsychotic. Results: Indications of penfluridol include acute psychosis, chronic schizophrenia and Tourette's syndrome. The notable adverse effects include orthostatic hypotension, osteoporosis leading to fracture in elderly, extrapyramidal side effects and QT prolongations with arrhythmia. Conclusions: Most of the studies were done in 1970s and 1980s when the proper conduct of clinical trials were not established.


PDF Share
  1. , The pharmacology of penfluridol (R 16341) a new potent and orally long-acting neuroleptic drug, Eur J Pharmacol. 1970 J; 11: 139-54.
  2. , Controlled trial of penfluridol in acute psychosis, Br Med J. 1971; 4: 710-3.
  3. Psychiatrische Pharmakotherapie, Springer-Verlag, 1976, 2. Auflage. ISBN 3-540-07916-5
  4. Penfluridol: a neuroleptic drug designed for long duration of action. Drug Metab Rev. 1979; 9: 281-99
  5. Neurologie et Psychiatrie 1983; 21: 33–41.
  6. Drugs in Schizophrenia Br Med J. 1971; 2: 167
  7. Potential value of penfluridol and pipothiazine palmitate. Psychopharmacology Bulletin 1975;11:11–2.
  8. Antischizophrenic drugs of the diphenylbutylpiperidine type act as calcium channel antagonists. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1983; 80: 5122–5125.
  9. Neuroleptic drugs attenuate calcium influx and tension development in rabbit thoracic aorta: effects of pimozide, penfluridol, chlorpromazine, and haloperidol. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1985; 82: 1237–41.
  10. Psychotropic Drugs: What's in a Name? Indian J Psychiatry. 1996; 38: 192
  11. Prescriber's Nightmare. Indian J Psychiatry. 1992; 34: 397–98.
  12. Research on antipsychotics in India Indian J Psychiatry. 2010; 52: S317–40.
  13. An overview of Indian research in schizophrenia. Indian J Psychiatry. 2010; 52: S159–72.
  14. Penufluridol in the Treatment of Schizophrenics. Indian J Psychiatry. 1988; 30: 405–8.
  15. Yip ALK. Current approaches to treatments for schizophrenia spectrum disorders, part I: an overview and medical treatments Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2013; 9: 1311–32.
  16. Penfluridol for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Apr 19; (2): CD002923.
  17. Controlled Trial of Penfluridol in Acute Psychosis Br Med J. 1972; 1: 442.
  18. Zum gegenwärtigen standder behandlung mit langzeitneuroleptica unter besonderer berücksichtigung von fluspirilene und penfluridol]. De Nervenarzt 1971;42(12):632–7.
  19. Neuroleptic drug utilization in out-patients--a prescription database study. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1993; 36: 579–83.
  20. T-type Calcium Channel Blockers as Neuroprotective Agents, Pflugers Arch. 2014; 466: 757–65.
  21. slam.nhs.uk/patients-and-carers/patient-information/nice-medicines-guidance/penfluridol-update last accessed on 23/7/2015 at 20: 40: 42 hrs
  22. Tourette's syndrome: clinical features, pathophysiology, and therapeutic approaches. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2007; 9(2): 161–71.
  23. Comparative short-term evaluation of penfluridol and trifluoperazine in chronic schizophrenia. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 1988; 32(4): 293–8.
  24. Long-Acting Injectable vs Oral Antipsychotics for Relapse Prevention in Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials. Schizophr Bull. 2014; 40: 192–13.
  25. Repurposing antipsychotic drug Penfluridol for cancer treatment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014; 74 (19 Suppl): Abstract nr 1251. doi: 10.1158/1538-7445. AM2014-1251
  26. Anti-tumor effects of penfluridol through dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014; 15(1): 489-94.
  27. Safety of haloperidol and penfluridol in pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, controlled study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2005; 66(3): 317-22.
  28. Penfluridol: a long acting oral antipsychotic drug. J Clin Psychiatry. 1979; 40: 107-9.
  29. A control study of haloperidol decanoate ampoule and penfluridol in treating chronic schizophrenia. Medical Journal of Chinese Civil Administration 1995; 3: 140–1.
  30. Almost All Antipsychotics Result in Weight Gain: A Meta-Analysis. PLoS One. 2014; 9(4): e94112.
  31. Schizophr Res Treatment. Treatment Engagement of Psychotic Patients with a Mobile Mental Health Unit in Rural Areas in Greece: A Five-Year Study 2013; 2013: 613956
  32. Pouwels, Van Staa TP, Egberts ACG, Leufkens HGM, Cooper C, de Vries F. Antipsychotic use and the risk of hip/femur fracture: a population-based case–control study. Osteoporos Int. 2009 September; 20: 1499–1506
  33. Antipsychotic Therapy During Early and Late Pregnancy. A Systematic Review. Schizophr Bull. 2010; 36: 518–44.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.