Pharmacological treatment of tardive dyskinesia: recent developments

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) occurs in patients receiving antipsychotic treatment with dopamine receptor antagonists. Despite the prevalence of TD and its negative impact on patients' lives, there has been a lack of approved treatments and limited evidence from controlled trials of pharmacological treatment. Areas covered: PubMed was searched for English-language papers published during 2007-2016 using terms 'tardive dyskinesia' or 'drug-induced movement disorder', and 'treatment'. Studies evaluating pharmacological agents for the treatment of TD were selected. A total of 26 studies (five meta-analyses, twelve randomized controlled trials, and nine open-label observational studies) are reviewed. Expert commentary: Treatment of TD necessitates a stepwise approach. Optimization of antipsychotic therapy should be considered before initiation of antidyskinetic therapies. Data from some recent studies indicate possible improvements in TD after switching antipsychotics or with the use of amantadine, levetiracetam, piracetam, zonisamide, propranolol, vitamin B₆, or certain unregulated herbal medicines; although significance of these improvements is unclear and require further investigation in randomized controlled trials. By contrast, recent evidence from Phase III trials of novel vesicular monoamine transporter-2 inhibitors demonstrates they could have a significant effect on TD symptom severity and suggests these agents may have the potential to transform treatment of TD in coming years.