Schizophrenia: effects of aripiprazole in metabolic syndrome

Deborah Galvão Coelho Da Silva,Luiz Kae Sales Kanazawa,Débora Dalla Vecchia

doi:10.1590/s2175-97902019000217840

Deborah Galvão Coelho Da Silva, Luiz Kae Sales Kanazawa + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s2175-97902019000217840

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Abstract

Schizophrenia, in general, is characterized by severe and disabling mental alterations, characterized by the impairment of one’s mental, behavioral and social activities, developing certain clinical symptoms, relevant to the diagnosis. The drugs used for the reversion of the symptoms cause several adverse effects that affect the patient’s health and well-being, such as motor, endocrine and cardiovascular damages. For a long time, little was known about the origin and the treatment of schizophrenia, which has become a curiosity for science, originating countless researches and theories that are background for several treatments. It is known that alterations in dopaminergic pathways are related to the development of the symptoms of the disease, and evaluating these symptoms, the diagnosis is made and the treatment is initiated. The insertion of new drugs with different characteristics and mechanisms tends to be an advance in the treatment of schizophrenia, as well as reducing the occurence of adverse effects or not worsening already existing cases. Aripiprazole is an innovative atypical antipsychotic employed in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia, which tends to attenuate the symptoms, inducing few adverse effects compared to other drugs that are already used, and promotes better quality of life to patients.

Highlights

Schizophrenia is a severe and disabling mental disorder that commonly appears in the transition of adolescence to the adult phase, characterized by the impairment of cerebral, behavioral and social functions (Falkai et al, 2006)
At the end of the first three months of treatment, all drugs had caused fast weight gain, with na increase of 4,4 kg with aripiprazol, 5,3 kg with risperidone, 6,0 kg with quetipaine and 8,5 kg with olanzapine, compared to 0,2 kg of the control group. These results suggest that the weight gain associated to antipsychotic therapy is more pronounced in children and adolescents than in adults
In a shortterm comparative study, the inicidence of hyperglicemia caused by aripiprazole was evaluated in comparison to placebo; the results showed that the use of aripiprazole was well-tolerated, and has reversed the hyperglycemia caused by other antipsychotics (Bowles, Levin, 2003)

Summary

Introduction

Schizophrenia is a severe and disabling mental disorder that commonly appears in the transition of adolescence to the adult phase, characterized by the impairment of cerebral, behavioral and social functions (Falkai et al, 2006). It is one of the most intriguing and studied psychic conditions, due to its clinical and psychopathological characteristics, in which individuals are affected in the height of their productive potentital, being its progression chronic and disabling (Nicolino et al, 2011).

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