Propranolol in Schizophrenia: A Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial of Propranolol as an Adjunct to Neuroleptic Medication

Abstract

Summary: A double blind, placebo controlled trial was carried out to examine the contribution of propranolol as an adjunct to neuroleptic medication in the treatment of chronic schizophrenic patients whose florid symptoms had not remitted with neuroleptic medication alone. Propranolol was shown to have a more beneficial effect than placebo, but the results were much less dramatic than those which have been described in previous studies. Recent work has shown that there may be a pharmacokinetic interaction between propranolol and neuroleptics, and this should be considered as one possible explanation of our findings.