A double-blind comparison of trebenzomine and thioridazine in the treatment of schizophrenia

Forty inpatient volunteers with diagnoses of schizophrenia were randomly assigned to treatment either with trebenzomine or thioridazine in a double-blind study of clinical antipsychotic efficacy following a 1-week placebo treatment. Psychopathology was rated using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). There was a significant difference in therapeutic response to the two drugs in that psychopathology decreased significantly for the thioridazine group, but not for the trebenzomine group. Serum Prolactin was elevated during treatment with thioridazine, but not with trebenzomine. Side effects were more frequently reported for the thioridazine group. These results fail to confirm previous reports of clinical antipsychotic efficacy for trebenzomine.