Treatment of ulcerative colitis with thioproperazine

Thioproperazine, an antipsychotic drug, dramatically improved three ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. We tried this dopaminergic blocking agent in patients with UC because Tp (but not other neuroleptics) suppressed the motility of the distal colon in one patient. All three patients showed impressive improvement by clinical, radiological, endoscopic, histological, and biochemical measures. Although peripheral mechanisms cannot be discarded, we postulate that centrally induced effects offer more satisfactory explanation for the drug's apparent benefit. The fact that Tp, but not other phenothiazine derivatives, penetrate some brain dopaminergic areas could explain Tp's particular effect. We caution that this is a preliminary observation and one that needs confirmation by controlled clinical trials.