Valbenazine as treatment for Huntington's disease chorea

Abstract

Chorea, the prototypical movement disorder in Huntington's disease, is a syndrome characterised by abrupt involuntary movements resulting from a continuous flow of random muscle contractions. 1 Cardoso F Seppi K Mair KJ Wenning GK Poewe W Seminar on choreas. Lancet Neurol. 2006; 5: 589-602 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (220) Google Scholar Symptomatic treatment of chorea in patients with Huntington's disease should be considered when it causes functional disability, discomfort, or social embarrassment. 1 Cardoso F Seppi K Mair KJ Wenning GK Poewe W Seminar on choreas. Lancet Neurol. 2006; 5: 589-602 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (220) Google Scholar One mainstay of pharmacological treatment is to reduce dopaminergic neurotransmission via inhibition of vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2), leading to presynaptic dopamine depletion. 2 Bashir H Jankovic J Treatment options for chorea. Expert Rev Neurother. 2018; 18: 51-63 Crossref PubMed Scopus (31) Google Scholar , 3 Koch J Shi WX Dashtipour K VMAT2 inhibitors for the treatment of hyperkinetic movement disorders. Pharmacol Ther. 2020; 212107580 Crossref Scopus (5) Google Scholar Safety and efficacy of valbenazine for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington's disease (KINECT-HD): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialIn individuals with Huntington's disease, valbenazine resulted in improvement in chorea compared with placebo and was well tolerated. Continued research is needed to confirm the long-term safety and effectiveness of this medication throughout the disease course in individuals with Huntington's disease-related chorea. Full-Text PDF