Ethnic heterogeneity in glucoregulatory function during treatment with atypical antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia

• Published in: Journal of psychiatric research 2008-10, Vol.42 (13), p.1076-1085
• Main Authors: Ader, Marilyn, Garvey, W. Timothy, Phillips, Lawrence S, Nemeroff, Charles B, Gharabawi, Georges, Mahmoud, Ramy, Greenspan, Andrew, Berry, Sally A, Musselman, Dominique L, Morein, Jacqueline, Zhu, Young, Mao, Lian, Bergman, Richard N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon - methods; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; Benzodiazepines - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Glucose - drug effects; Body Weight - drug effects; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; Diabetes; Double-Blind Method; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Ethnic Groups; Ethnic minorities; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Glucose Tolerance Test - methods; Humans; Insulin Resistance - ethnology; Insulin Resistance - physiology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Minorities; Miscellaneous (drug allergy, mutagens, teratogens...); Olanzapine; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychiatry; Psychotic Disorders - complications; Psychotic Disorders - drug therapy; Risperidone; Risperidone - therapeutic use; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - drug therapy; Schizophrenia - genetics; Schizophrenia - metabolism; Time Factors; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Weight gain
• ISSN: 0022-3956; 1879-1379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.01.004

Abstract Objective Atypical antipsychotics induce weight gain and are linked to increased diabetes risk, but their relative impact on factors that elevate disease risk are unknown. Methods We performed a 6-month, randomized, double-blind study to evaluate the effects of risperidone and olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia. At baseline and weeks 6 and 24, we quantified: (1) total adiposity by DEXA, (2) visceral adiposity by abdominal CT, and (3) insulin sensitivity (SI ) and (4) pancreatic function (“disposition index”, DI) by intravenous glucose tolerance test. Results At baseline, groups (risperidone: n = 28; olanzapine: n = 31) were overweight or obese by body mass index (risperidone: 28.4 ± 5.4, olanzapine: 30.6 ± 7.0 kg/m2 ). Both drugs induced weight gain ( p < 0.004). Total adiposity was increased by olanzapine at 6 weeks ( p = 0.0006) and by both treatments at 24 weeks ( p < 0.003). Visceral adiposity was increased by olanzapine and risperidone by 24 weeks ( p < 0.003). SI did not deteriorate appreciably, although a downward trend was observed with risperidone. Given known ethnic differences in adiposity and SI , we performed secondary analysis in African American and Hispanic subjects. In this subset, olanzapine expanded both total and visceral adiposity ( p < 0.02); no increase was observed with risperidone. There were modest downward trends for SI with both treatments. By week 24, olanzapine-treated subjects exhibited diminished DI ( p = 0.033), indicating inadequate pancreatic compensation for insulin resistance. Conclusions This is the first prospective study in psychiatric patients that quantified antipsychotic effects on the multiple metabolic processes that increase diabetes risk. Results indicate that ethnic minorities may have greater susceptibility to antipsychotic-induced glucoregulatory complications.