A therapeutic trial of caerulein to a long-term heavy marihuana user with amotivational syndrome.

A male marihuana user with amotivational syndrome who responded poorly to neuroleptic therapy was treated four times with weekly intramuscular injection of caerulein in a dose of 0.6 micrograms/kg. He was maintained on his previous neuroleptic medication during the study period. The BPRS was used to rate the patient's symptoms. There were remarkable improvements in the total scores and the psychosis subscale score, which consists of the following symptoms that do not respond well to neuroleptic therapy in chronic schizophrenia: emotional withdrawal, mannerisms and posturing, uncooperativeness, and blunted affect. These improvements persisted for two weeks after cessation of caerulein administration, after which the patient's condition gradually worsened. Nevertheless, the improvement recurred upon reinjection of caerulein. These findings indicate that the improvement observed seems to be due to caerulein, and suggest that caerulein may be a useful and effective therapeutic drug for marihuana user with amotivational syndrome.