Although most commonly known as an effective antidepressant medication, fluoxetine, marketed under the brand name Prozac, was shown to be effective in slowing the progression of the relapsing remitting type of multiple sclerosis (MS), with fewer areas of inflammation occurring as the study progressed.

The May 2 issue of the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry carries the full story of the random study conducted on 40 patients with this particular form of MS. The study group was treated with 20 milligrams (mg) per day with fluoxetine while the control group took a placebo. The study lasted for 24 weeks.

Detailed brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed disease activity as evidenced by newly developed areas of inflammation within the brains of the study participants. Scans were taken at four-week intervals throughout the study. Of the 40 original participants, 38 (or 19 per group) completed the test.

Prozac is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which typically takes about eight weeks of use before symptoms of depression begin to diminish. MS patients in the study also began to see some improvement in the number of areas of inflammation after taking Prozac for about eight weeks.

The Prozac group was shown to have slightly less than two new areas, on average, of inflammation whereas those in the placebo group averaged five new areas. Twenty-five percent of the participants in the Prozac group scanned positive for new areas of inflammation while 40% did so in the control group.

During the final 16 weeks of the study, 63% of the Prozac group developed no new areas of inflammation while 26% in the control group did.

Calling the study small enough to issue caution, the research team considers their study results to be encouraging enough to warrant further, larger, studies using fluoxetine for MS treatment, perhaps in different doses or in combination with other drugs that affect the immune system.

Source: BMJ