Clozapine augmented with aripiprazole in 5 patients with schizophrenia

Treating symptomatic hyperprolactinemia in women with schizophrenia: presentation of the ongoing DAAMSEL clinical trial (Dopamine partial Agonist, Aripiprazole, for the Management of Symptomatic ELevated prolactin)

Prolactin elevations occur in people treated with antipsychotic medications and are often much higher in women than in men. Hyperprolactinemia is known to cause amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, galactorrhea and gynecomastia in females and is also associated with sexual dysfunction and bone loss. These side effects increase risk of antipsychotic nonadherence and suicide and pose significant problems in the long term management of women with schizophrenia. In this manuscript, we review the literature on prolactin; its physiology, plasma levels, side effects and strategies for treatment. We also present the rationale and protocol for an ongoing clinical trial to treat symptomatic hyperprolactinemia in premenopausal women with schizophrenia. More attention and focus are needed to address these significant side effects and help the field better personalize the treatment of women with schizophrenia.

Role of aripiprazole in treatment-resistant schizophrenia

About one third of patients with schizophrenia respond unsatisfactorily to antipsychotic treatment and are termed "treatment-resistant". Clozapine is still the gold standard in these cases. However, 40%-70% of patients do not improve sufficiently on clozapine either. In the search for more efficacious strategies for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, drugs with different pharmacological profiles seem to raise new hopes, but are they valid? The aim of this review was to evaluate the evidence for aripiprazole as a potential strategy in monotherapy or combination therapy for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The evidence for aripiprazole monotherapy and for the combination of aripiprazole with psychotropics other than clozapine is scant, and no recommendation can be made on the basis of the currently available data. More effort has been made in describing combinations of aripiprazole and clozapine. Most of the open-label and case studies as well as case reports have shown positive effects of this combination on overall psychopathology and to some extent on negative symptoms. Several reports describe the possibility of dose reduction for clozapine in combination with aripiprazole, a strategy that might help so-called "treatment-intolerant" patients. The findings of four randomized controlled trials with respect to changes in psychopathology seem less conclusive. The most commonly found beneficial effects are better metabolic outcomes and indicators of the possibility of reducing the clozapine dose. However, other side effects, such as akathisia, are repeatedly reported. Further, none of the studies report longer-term outcomes. In the absence of alternatives, polypharmacy is a common strategy in clinical practice. Combining aripiprazole with clozapine in clozapine-resistant or clozapine-intolerant patients seems to be worthy of further investigation from the pharmacological and clinical points of view.

Psychiatrists' attitude towards and knowledge of clozapine treatment

Clozapine is, in most countries, underutilized and the initiation of clozapine is often delayed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons for the delay and the underutilization of clozapine. One hundred psychiatrists were interviewed by phone. The interview was a structured interview with questions regarding attitude to, knowledge of and experiences with clozapine. Forty-eight (48%) psychiatrists had treatment responsibility of fewer than five patients treated with clozapine and 31 of the interviewed psychiatrists (31%) had started clozapine within the last 3 months. Seven psychiatrists (7%) had never prescribed clozapine despite the fact that they had been working more than five years in general psychiatry. Sixty-four psychiatrists (64%) would rather combine two antipsychotics than use clozapine. Sixty-six psychiatrists (66%) believed that patients treated with clozapine were less satisfied with their treatment when compared with those treated with other atypical antipsychotics. Many psychiatrists are reluctant to use clozapine and this might be due to less experience and knowledge of clozapine. A reason for the low awareness of clozapine's properties might be that clozapine is now a generic drug, and therefore, the marketing and education in using the drug is sparse.

Augmentation of clozapine with aripiprazole in severe psychotic bipolar and schizoaffective disorders: a pilot study

AIM

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the augmentation of clozapine with aripiprazole in patients with treatment-resistant schizoaffective and psychotic bipolar disorders in a retrospective manner. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic interactions between the two drugs were also investigated.

PATIENTS

Three men and 4 women (median age 36 and 40 years, respectively) who had mean scores at BPRS and CGI-Severity of 59.1+/-12.0 and 5.4+/-0.5, respectively, were treated with clozapine (mean dose 292.9+/-220.7 mg/day). Patients received an adjunctive treatment with aripiprazole (mean dose 6.8 +/- 3.7 mg/day). Clozapine, norclozapine and aripiprazole plasma levels were measured by means of a high performance liquid chromatograpy with UV detection.

RESULTS

Total scores at BPRS decreased significantly (from 59.1+/-12.0 to 51.1+/-15.6, p=0.007) after aripirazole augmentation. In particular, the factors "thought disorder" (from 10.4+/-4.4 to 9.0+/-4.5, p=.047) and "anergia" (from 10.0+/-2.7 to 8.0+/-2.4, p=.018) significantly improved. Concomitant administration of aripiprazole and clozapine did not result in an increase in side effects over the period of treatment. Dose-normalized plasma levels of both clozapine and norclozapine and the clozapine/norclozapine metabolic ratio in all patients did not vary as well.

CONCLUSION

The augmentation of clozapine with aripirazole was safe and effective in severe psychotic schizoaffective and bipolar disorders which failed to respond to atypical antipsychotics. A possible pharmacokinetic interaction between clozapine and aripiprazole does not account for the improved clinical benefit obtained after aripiprazole augmentation.

Polypharmacy with second-generation antipsychotics: a review of evidence

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to review the prevalence of polypharmacy with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) in clinical practice, pharmacological reasons for such practice, and the evidence for and against such polypharmacy.

METHODS

Clinical trial reports, case reports, and reviews were identified by a PubMed literature search from 1966 through October 2006, with retrieved publications queried for additional references. We excluded reports on augmentation with non-antipsychotic medications and polypharmacy involving combinations of SGAs and first-generation (conventional) antipsychotics (FGAs) or combinations of two FGAs. We identified 75 reports concerning SGA polypharmacy, from which we extracted data on study design, sample size, medications, rating scales, outcome, and conclusions. Data from randomized controlled trials and larger case series are presented in detail and case reports are briefly discussed.

CONCLUSIONS

Polypharmacy with SGAs is not uncommon, with prevalence varying widely (3.9% to 50%) depending on setting and patient population, despite limited support from blinded, randomized, controlled trials or case reports that employed an A-B-A (monotherapy-combination therapy-monotherapy) design and adequate dosing and duration of treatment. Rather than prohibiting or discouraging co-prescription of SGAs, needs of patients and clinicians should be addressed through evidence-based algorithms. Based on unmet clinical needs and modest evidence from case reports, combinations of two SGAs may merit future investigation in efficacy trials involving patients with schizophrenia who have treatment-resistant illness (including partial response) or who are responsive to treatment but develop intolerable adverse effects. Other areas that may merit future research are efficacy of SGA polypharmacy for schizophrenia accompanied by comorbid conditions (eg, anxiety, suicidal or self-injurious behavior, aggression) and for reducing length of stay in acute care settings.

Combined antipsychotic treatment involving clozapine and aripiprazole

Treatment resistance is considered a challenging problem of antipsychotic pharmacotherapy. In such cases, combination approaches are commonly used, for instance the add-on of aripiprazole to clozapine. This review aims at giving an overview of the present knowledge on this strategy. We performed a keyword-based screening of databases (including November 2007) and evaluated the data in a systematic manner. The courses of 94 patients were reported in 11 publications. At a mean dosage of 20.5 mg/day, aripiprazole achieved clinical improvement of psychotic symptoms and facilitated a dose reduction of clozapine from 476.7 to 425.1 mg/day. In parallel, clozapine serum levels decreased from 611 to 523 ng/ml. No pharmacokinetic interactions were reported, and clozapine-induced side effects ameliorated. However, single cases of extrapyramidal side effects occurred. The combination of clozapine and aripiprazole follows a neurobiological rationale and appears to be effective and tolerable. The results of placebo-controlled trials might allow further insight into the benefits and risks of this strategy.

[Present data and treatment schedule of aripiprazole in the treatment of schizophrenia]

Among the second generation antipsychotics, aripiprazole presents a new pharmacological profile, basically differentiated by a partial agonist effect on the D2 and D3 dopaminergic receptors. Five short-term efficacy studies, conducted on 1648 patients presenting with schizophrenia or acute relapse of schizoaffective disorders, demonstrated the greater efficacy of aripiprazole than the placebo and comparable efficacy to that of haloperidol and risperidone. The short-term tolerance profile was characterised by a lesser incidence of the extrapyramidal side effects and drowsiness than with haloperidol. Two thousand six hundred and eighty five patients were followed-up over a period of 26 to 52 weeks in five clinical trials versus a placebo and haloperidol, olanzapine, quetiapine and risperiodone: demonstrated efficacy in maintaining the response to treatment and on the delay before relapse was comparable to the other antipsychotics. The classical side effects of antipsychotics decreased in the long-term. Versus olanzapine, a glucid and lipid profile, clearly in favour of aripiprazole, was completed by a lesser incidence of hyperprolactinaemia. Aripiprazole is effective on all the dimensions of schizophrenia: the positive and negative and depressive and anxious symptomatology. It appears to be of interest, notably on the cognitive dimension, which should motivate more in-depth exploration of its place in the treatment in the early stages of schizophrenia. Its therapeutic schedule and the methods of initiation are an essential criterion to the success of treatment, notably during the substitution of other antipsychotics. The clinical and pharmacological originality of aripiprazole would justify the terminology of a "third generation antipsychotic".