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Comparison of the efficacies of oral iron and pramipexole for the treatment of restless legs syndrome patients with low serum ferritin
Author(s) -
Lee C. S.,
Lee S. D.,
Kang S.H.,
Park H. Y.,
Yoon I.Y.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.12286
Subject(s) - pramipexole , medicine , restless legs syndrome , ferritin , gastroenterology , iron deficiency , iron supplementation , pharmacology , parkinson's disease , anemia , insomnia , disease
Background and purpose It is not clear which is preferred between iron supplement and a dopamine agonist in the treatment of restless legs syndrome ( RLS ) with iron deficiency. The efficacies of oral iron supplementation and pramipexole for treatment of RLS with low‐normal serum ferritin (15–50 ng/ml) were compared. Methods Thirty RLS patients who took either oral iron or pramipexole for 12 weeks and were followed at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after treatment commencement were enrolled. Severities of RLS symptoms were assessed using the international RLS study group rating scale for severity ( IRLS ) at every visit. Treatment response was defined as a decrease in IRLS score of at least 50% from baseline. Results The 30 subjects were assigned equally to an iron or pramipexole group. At baseline, IRLS scores and serum ferritin levels were similar between these two groups. After 12 weeks, IRLS scores were lower than those at baseline in both groups (iron −9.1 ± 7.07, P < 0.001; pramipexole −8.7 ± 8.31, P = 0.001) and similar between the two groups. Changes in IRLS scores from baseline were similar between the two groups at each visit. The response rates of the groups were identical at 46.7%. Conclusions Pramipexole was not different from oral iron in terms of efficacy and improvement speed in RLS patients with a low‐normal serum ferritin, but response rate of either oral iron or pramipexole alone was moderate. Some proportion of RLS patients with iron deficiency might benefit from combined use of oral iron and dopamine agonists.