Meniere's disease: combined pharmacotherapy with betahistine and the MAO-B inhibitor selegiline-an observational study

Strupp, Michael; Kraus, Ludwig; Schautzer, Franz und Rujescu, Dan (2018): Meniere's disease: combined pharmacotherapy with betahistine and the MAO-B inhibitor selegiline-an observational study. In: Journal of Neurology, Bd. 265, Nr. Suppl. 1: S. 80-85

Abstract

Objectives Since oral betahistine has a very high first-pass effect (ca. 99%), metabolized by monoamine oxidases (MAO), the benefits of a high-dosage betahistine monotherapy were compared with those of a lower dosage of betahistine in combination with the MAO-B inhibitor (MAO-B) selegiline on the frequency of acute attacks of vertigo in patients with Meniere's disease (MD). Methods Thirteen adults aged 40-75years (mean 58.9 years;six females) had initially been treated with a high dosage of betahistine dihydrochloride for at least 1 year. Under this therapy, all of them had <= 1 attack for >= 3 months prior to the combination pharmacotherapy. Subsequently, they received 5 mg/day selegiline and the dosage of betahistine was reduced to about one tenth and then individually adjusted to the dosage needed to achieve the same treatment response (<= 1 per 3 months, observational period of at least 6 months). Results The initial dosage for the long-term "titration" of the attacks of vertigo was 9-80 24-mg tablets/day (mean 37.3), i.e. 216-1920 mg/day (mean 895.4 mg/day). After the combination with selegiline, the dosage needed to achieve the same benefit for >= 3 months was 3-36 24-mg tablets (mean 8.5), i.e., 72-864 mg/day [mean 204.9 mg/day, p<0.001 (paired t test)]. One patient transiently stopped the treatment with selegiline, another one reduced the dosage to 2.5 mg/day and the attacks re-occurred after 2-4 weeks. Six out of 13 patients reported transient fullness of the head during the combined treatment;in 2 of them this went away when they switched to 2.5 mg bid. In the longer term (> 9 months), one patient had to increase the selegiline dosage to 5 mg bd, one patient stopped the treatment with selegiline. Conclusions The achievement of the same clinical effect with a significantly lower (about 1/5) dosage of betahistine can be explained by the inhibition of the MAO-B by selegiline leading to higher serum concentrations of betahistine. This approach is in line with recent developments to bypass the first-pass effect of betahistine by transbuccal or intranasal application. Despite the substantial methodological limitations of such an observational study, this combined pharmacotherapy could be an alternative to a high-dosage monotherapy with betahistine of MD.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 0340-5354
• Sprache: Englisch