Treatment of psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder with aripiprazole monotherapy: a meta-analysis

Efficacy, safety and tolerability of aripiprazole in bipolar disorder: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Numerous studies have investigated aripiprazole as a treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). therefore we conducted this comprehensive meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy and safety profile of aripiprazole in treating BD. Two authors conducted systematic searches of PubMed and ScienceDirect from inception until May 14th, 2017. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of people with BD who received aripiprazole were included. A total of 20 RCTs met the eligibility criteria, including two which investigated the efficacy of aripiprazole versus haloperidol (aripiprazole=340; haloperidol=337), three which compared aripiprazole versus lithium (aripiprazole=208; lithium=212), and 15 with multiple comparisons of aripiprazole versus a placebo (aripiprazole=1923; placebo=1499). Compared to a placebo, aripiprazole improved acute mania (Hedges' g: -0.299, p=0.001) and psychosis (Hedges' g: -0.296, p<0.001) in the acute mania state, but did not improve depressive symptoms (Hedges' g: -0.127, p=0.054) in the acute depressive state. Aripiprazole was associated with lower relapse rates in bipolar mania when used in combination versus a placebo in maintenance therapy (odds ratio: 0.522, p<0.029). Aripiprazole was also associated with higher levels of high density lipoprotein, lower dropout rates, but no difference in extrapyramidal symptoms in the maintenance phase versus a placebo or in comparison with other medications (haloperidol or lithium). Our results suggest that aripiprazole is effective and safe in treating bipolar mania. Further trials are necessary to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability versus other medications.

The International College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology (CINP) Treatment Guidelines for Bipolar Disorder in Adults (CINP-BD-2017), Part 2: Review, Grading of the Evidence, and a Precise Algorithm

Background

The current paper includes a systematic search of the literature, a detailed presentation of the results, and a grading of treatment options in terms of efficacy and tolerability/safety.

Material and Methods

The PRISMA method was used in the literature search with the combination of the words 'bipolar,' 'manic,' 'mania,' 'manic depression,' and 'manic depressive' with 'randomized,' and 'algorithms' with 'mania,' 'manic,' 'bipolar,' 'manic-depressive,' or 'manic depression.' Relevant web pages and review articles were also reviewed.

Results

The current report is based on the analysis of 57 guideline papers and 531 published papers related to RCTs, reviews, posthoc, or meta-analysis papers to March 25, 2016. The specific treatment options for acute mania, mixed episodes, acute bipolar depression, maintenance phase, psychotic and mixed features, anxiety, and rapid cycling were evaluated with regards to efficacy. Existing treatment guidelines were also reviewed. Finally, Tables reflecting efficacy and recommendation levels were created that led to the development of a precise algorithm that still has to prove its feasibility in everyday clinical practice.

Conclusions

A systematic literature search was conducted on the pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder to identify all relevant random controlled trials pertaining to all aspects of bipolar disorder and graded the data according to a predetermined method to develop a precise treatment algorithm for management of various phases of bipolar disorder. It is important to note that the some of the recommendations in the treatment algorithm were based on the secondary outcome data from posthoc analyses.

A meta-analysis of efficacy and safety of aripiprazole in adult and pediatric bipolar disorder in randomized controlled trials and observational studies

BACKGROUND

Aripiprazole (ARP) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of bipolar disorder (BD). However, no prior investigation considered both randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs. We here evaluated the efficacy and safety of ARP compared with placebo (PCB) and other drugs at 3- and 12-weeks in adult and pediatric population including, for the first time, both observational and controlled studies.

METHODS

All studies were systematically located by searching electronic sources (EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINHAIL, PsychINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus and ClinicalTrials.gov) till June 30th, 2015. The primary outcome was ARP efficacy (mean change from baseline in Young Mania Rating Scale); secondary outcomes regarded acceptability and safety. Results Sixteen RCTs and 6 non-RCTs met our inclusion criteria; 2505 and 2932 patients were included in the analyses of acute and stabilization phase, respectively. In both the acute and stabilization phases ARP efficacy was superior to PCB and comparable to other drugs. The safety profile was similar to other drugs considering in particular sedation, akathisia, weight gain, extrapyramidal and gastroenteric symptoms, with a significant lower risk of hyperprolactinemia particularly at 12-weeks.

LIMITATIONS

Data on failed trials are generally limited.

CONCLUSIONS

ARP resulted to be an effective treatment in children and adults with BD at 3- and 12-weeks both in a controlled experimental setting or in the real world clinical practice, being poorly associated with hyperprolactinemia. Larger studies are needed to confirm our results related to the maintenance phases and to the pediatric bipolar population.

Comparison the effectiveness of aripiprazole and risperidone for the treatment of acute bipolar mania

BACKGROUND

Second-generation antipsychotics, approved for the treatment of mania, are associated with adverse effects such as weight gain and metabolic disorders. Aripiprazole, a recently introduced second-generation antipsychotic, are thought to account for its low propensity for weight gain, metabolic disturbances and sedation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of risperidone versus aripiprazole in the treatment of acute mania.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty patients with acute episodes of mania were enrolled in this study, and they were randomly assigned into a risperidone group of 24 cases and an aripiprazole group of 26 cases. In group A, aripiprazole with a dose of 5-30 mg/day and in group B, risperidone with a dose of 2-8 mg/day was given to patients. The average dose of aripiprazole was 27 mg/day, and the average dose of risperidone was 6 mg/day. The effects of each drug for the treatment of acute mania were assessed on the 1(st) day of admission and on days 2, 4, 6, 8 and at weeks 2, 4 and 6 after therapy using the young mania rating scale (YMRS) and at the baseline and on weeks 3 and 6 after admission using the clinical global impression (CGI) scale.

RESULTS

The mean age of the group of risperidone was 34 ± 8.6 years and in a group of aripiprazole it was 34 ± 9.1 years (P = 0.83). Comparison of YMRS scores over the period of 6 weeks revealed a statistically significant difference in both groups (P < 0.0001). There was also a statistically significant difference in YMRS scores between risperidone and aripiprazole at day 8 (P = 0.026) and weeks 2 (P = 0.035) and 4 (P = 0.042). There was also a statistically significant difference in CGI-Severity scale score at weeks 3 (P = 0.003) and 6 (P = 0.000) and in CGI-Improvement scale score at weeks 3 (P = 0.005) and 6 (P = 0.002). The most common side-effect observed in both groups was headache (0%15/4 in aripiprazole vs. %16/7 in risperidone).

CONCLUSION

Aripiprazole that is readily available in our market, could be considered more effective than risperidone in the treatment of acute mania.

When to start aripiprazole therapy in patients with bipolar mania

Aripiprazole is a third generation atypical antipsychotic with compelling evidence as a highly effective treatment option in the management of acute manic and mixed episodes of bipolar I disorders. It has a unique mode of action, acting as a partial agonist at dopamine D2 and D3, and serotonin 5-HT1A; and exhibiting antagonistic action at the 5-HT2A and H1 receptors. Overall, it has a favorable safety and tolerability profile, with low potential for clinically significant weight gain and metabolic effects, especially compared to other well-established treatments. It also has a superior tolerability profile when used as maintenance treatment. Side effects like headache, insomnia, and extrapyramidal side effects (EPSEs), such as tremor and akathisia may be treatment limiting in some cases. It is efficacious in both acute mania and mixed states, and in the long-term prevention of manic relapses. Aripiprazole therefore, is a significant player in the current portfolio of anti-manic pharmacological treatments. The data sources for this article are from EMBASE, MEDLINE, and the clinical trial database searches for all the literature published between January 2003 and September 2013. The key search terms were "aripiprazole" combined with "bipolar disorder", "mania", "antipsychotics", "mood stabilizer", "randomized controlled trial", and "pharmacology". Abstracts and proceedings from national and international psychiatric meetings were also reviewed, along with reviews of the reference lists of relevant articles.

Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) and International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) collaborative update of CANMAT guidelines for the management of patients with bipolar disorder: update 2013

The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments published guidelines for the management of bipolar disorder in 2005, with updates in 2007 and 2009. This third update, in conjunction with the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, reviews new evidence and is designed to be used in conjunction with the previous publications.The recommendations for the management of acute mania remain largely unchanged. Lithium, valproate, and several atypical antipsychotic agents continue to be first-line treatments for acute mania. Monotherapy with asenapine, paliperidone extended release (ER), and divalproex ER, as well as adjunctive asenapine, have been added as first-line options.For the management of bipolar depression, lithium, lamotrigine, and quetiapine monotherapy, as well as olanzapine plus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and lithium or divalproex plus SSRI/bupropion remain first-line options. Lurasidone monotherapy and the combination of lurasidone or lamotrigine plus lithium or divalproex have been added as a second-line options. Ziprasidone alone or as adjunctive therapy, and adjunctive levetiracetam have been added as not-recommended options for the treatment of bipolar depression. Lithium, lamotrigine, valproate, olanzapine, quetiapine, aripiprazole, risperidone long-acting injection, and adjunctive ziprasidone continue to be first-line options for maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. Asenapine alone or as adjunctive therapy have been added as third-line options.

Efficacy of pharmacotherapy in bipolar disorder: a report by the WPA section on pharmacopsychiatry

The current statement is a systematic review of the available data concerning the efficacy of medication treatment of bipolar disorder (BP). A systematic MEDLINE search was made concerning the treatment of BP (RCTs) with the names of treatment options as keywords. The search was updated on 10 March 2012. The literature suggests that lithium, first and second generation antipsychotics and valproate and carbamazepine are efficacious in the treatment of acute mania. Quetiapine and the olanzapine-fluoxetine combination are also efficacious for treating bipolar depression. Antidepressants should only be used in combination with an antimanic agent, because they can induce switching to mania/hypomania/mixed states/rapid cycling when utilized as monotherapy. Lithium, olanzapine, quetiapine and aripiprazole are efficacious during the maintenance phase. Lamotrigine is efficacious in the prevention of depression, and it remains to be clarified whether it is also efficacious for mania. There is some evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions as an adjunctive treatment to medication. Electroconvulsive therapy is an option for refractory patients. In acute manic patients who are partial responders to lithium/valproate/carbamazepine, adding an antipsychotic is a reasonable choice. The combination with best data in acute bipolar depression is lithium plus lamotrigine. Patients stabilized on combination treatment might do worse if shifted to monotherapy during maintenance, and patients could benefit with add-on treatment with olanzapine, valproate, an antidepressant, or lamotrigine, depending on the index acute phase. A variety of treatment options for BP are available today, but still unmet needs are huge. Combination therapy may improve the treatment outcome but it also carries more side-effect burden. Further research is necessary as well as the development of better guidelines and algorithms for the step-by-step rational treatment.

Aripiprazole: a review of its use in the management of mania in adults with bipolar I disorder

Aripiprazole (Abilify®) is an atypical antipsychotic indicated for the treatment of mania associated with bipolar I disorder. It is unique in its class, as it is a partial agonist of dopamine D(2) and D(3), and serotonin 5-HT(1A) receptors and a modest antagonist of 5-HT(2A) receptors. This article reviews the pharmacological properties, clinical efficacy and tolerability of oral aripiprazole in the management of mania associated with bipolar I disorder in adults. In well designed clinical trials in patients with recent manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder, oral aripiprazole monotherapy or adjunctive therapy to lithium or valproate improved symptoms of mania following short-term (≤12 weeks) or maintenance (≤100 weeks) treatment. In addition, maintenance treatment with aripiprazole (as monotherapy or adjunctive therapy) prevented the recurrence of any mood episodes or manic episodes (but not depressive episodes) in patients who had previously been stabilized and maintained on aripiprazole. Aripiprazole was generally well tolerated in these studies and was associated with a low risk of prolactin elevation, corrected QT interval prolongation and metabolic disturbances. Extrapyramidal symptoms occurred in up to 28% of aripiprazole recipients, but after longer-term treatment (≤100 weeks), symptom severity did not differ significantly from that in placebo recipients. Aripiprazole treatment generally did not increase bodyweight to a clinically relevant extent; however, more patients receiving aripiprazole monotherapy than placebo had clinically significant bodyweight gain during 100 weeks' treatment. Additionally, in a comparative trial, aripiprazole monotherapy was at least as effective as haloperidol monotherapy in terms of improving symptoms of mania, but had the advantage of a lower incidence of some adverse events, such as extrapyramidal symptom-related adverse events. Further trials comparing aripiprazole with other agents, including atypical antipsychotics, would help to definitively position aripiprazole relative to these agents. Current guidelines recommend aripiprazole as a first-line option (as monotherapy or adjunctive therapy) for the short-term treatment of mania associated with bipolar I disorder, and as a first-line (as monotherapy) or second-line (as adjunctive therapy) option for preventing the recurrence of mood episodes during longer-term therapy.

Aripiprazole in patients with bipolar mania and beyond: an update of practical guidance

BACKGROUND

Aripiprazole is an atypical antipsychotic with a pharmacological and clinical profile distinct from other atypical antipsychotics.

SCOPE

A European multidisciplinary advisory panel of university-based experts in bipolar disorders convened in April 2010 to review new clinical guidelines for the management of mania and the role of aripiprazole in its treatment. This report describes the consensus reached on how best to use aripiprazole in the treatment of mania.

FINDINGS

Current guidelines recommending aripiprazole for first-line treatment of mania have not generally translated to clinical practice. The panel agreed that clinicians may not feel sufficiently knowledgeable on how to use aripiprazole effectively in mania, and that the perception that aripiprazole is less sedating than other antipschotics may hamper its use. There was consensus about the importance of ensuring that clinicians understood the distinction between antimanic efficacy and sedation. Most acutely manic patients may require night-time sedation, but continuous daytime sedation is not necessarily indicated and may interfere with long-term compliance. If sedation is necessary, guidelines recommend the use of adjunctive benzodiazepines only for a short-time.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical practice guidelines widely recommend aripiprazole as a first-line treatment for mania. Although clinical trials may not represent all patient subpopulations, they show that aripiprazole is well tolerated and has a long-term stabilizing potential. The successful use of aripiprazole rests on using the appropriate initial dose, titrating and adjusting the dose as needed and using appropriate concomitant medication to minimize any short-term adverse events. Low incidence of sedation makes aripiprazole a reasonable long-term treatment choice. If short-term sedation is required an adjunctive sedative agent can be added and removed when no longer needed. Clinical considerations should influence treatment choice, and a better distinction between sedation and antimanic effects should be an educational target aimed to overcome potential barriers for using non-sedative antimanic agents such as aripiprazole.

Aripiprazole monotherapy in the treatment of bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Aripiprazole is approved for the acute and maintenance treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder. The aim of the present work was to review and meta-analyze the findings of all the available randomized double-blind controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of aripiprazole in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Aripiprazole RCTs were identified with a systematic search of MEDLINE and repositories. Standard meta-analytic techniques were applied.

RESULTS

Two thousand three hundred and three patients took part in the aripiprazole acute mania RCTs. At week 3 the pooled aripiprazole vs. placebo effect size was 0.34 and the NNT was 6 for response and 14 for remission. On average, response started at day 3. Suicide rates were negligible for all groups in mania but they were not reported in the acute depression trials. The meta-analysis of acute bipolar depression RCTs revealed a significant difference at week 8 with a weak effect size equal to 0.17. The analysis of maintenance data suggest that the median survival time for the aripiprazole group was not evaluable (very long), while the median survival time for placebo was 118-203 days depending on the clinical subpopulation.

DISCUSSION

The current meta-analysis supports the usefulness of aripiprazole during all phases of bipolar illness. Its effect against acute bipolar depression is weak and the efficacy during the maintenance phase is proven only against new manic episodes in patients with an index manic episode who had previously responded to aripiprazole during the acute phase.

Class effect of pharmacotherapy in bipolar disorder: fact or misbelief?

BACKGROUND

Anecdotal reports suggests that most clinicians treat medications as belonging to a class with regard to all therapeutic indications; this means that the whole 'class' of drugs is considered to possesses a specific therapeutic action. The present article explores the possible existence of a true 'class effect' for agents available for the treatment of bipolar disorder.

METHODS

We reviewed the available treatment data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and explored 16 'agent class'/'treatment issue' cases for bipolar disorder. Four classes of agents were examined: first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs), second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), antiepileptics and antidepressants, with respect to their efficacy on four treatment issues of bipolar disorder (BD) (acute mania, acute bipolar depression, maintenance against mania, maintenance against depression).

RESULTS

From the 16 'agent class'/' treatment issue' cases, only 3 possible class effects were detected, and they all concerned acute mania and antipsychotics. Four effect cases have not been adequately studied (FGAs against acute bipolar depression and in maintenance protection from depression, and antidepressants against acute mania and protection from mania) and they all concern treatment cases with a high risk of switching to the opposite pole, thus research in these areas is poor. There is no 'class effect' at all concerning antiepileptics.

CONCLUSIONS

The available data suggest that a 'class effect' is the exception rather than the rule in the treatment of BD. However, the possible presence of a 'class effect' concept discourages clinicians from continued scientific training and reading. Focused educational intervention might be necessary to change this attitude.

A comparison of two fixed doses of aripiprazole with placebo in acutely relapsed, hospitalized patients with bipolar disorder I (manic or mixed) in subpopulations (CN138-007)

This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of two fixed doses of aripiprazole (15 mg/day, n = 131 and 30 mg/day, n = 136) compared with placebo (n = 134) in acutely manic or mixed bipolar I hospitalized patients. The mean change from baseline to Week 3 in the YMRS Total Scores was -10.01 (95% CI: -11.92, -8.09) for aripiprazole 15 mg/day, -10.80 (95% CI: -12.71, -8.90) for aripiprazole 30 mg/day, and -10.12 (95% CI: -12.01, -8.24) for placebo. The most frequent adverse events (> or = 10% and greater than placebo) for either of the aripiprazole treatment groups were headache, nausea, dyspepsia, insomnia, agitation, constipation, akathisia, anxiety, lightheadedness, vomiting, diarrhea, asthenia and extremity pain. Aripiprazole 15 or 30 mg/day was not significantly more effective than placebo in the treatment of bipolar I disorder acute mania at endpoint (Week 3). A high placebo response rate may have accounted for the lack of separation between treatment groups.