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The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 158, No. 3

Letter to the Editor | March 01, 2001

Differing Tolerability Profiles Among Atypical Antipsychotics

JONATHAN S.E. HELLEWELL, M.B., CH.B., M.SC., M.R.C.PSYCH.; PETER M. HADDAD, M.D., M.B., CH.B., M.SC., M.R.C.PSYCH.

Am J Psychiatry 2001;158:501-501. 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.3.501

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References

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To the Editor: We read with interest the article by David B. Allison, Ph.D., et al. (1) in which they reported weight gain over 10 weeks’ treatment with a number of antipsychotics. Unfortunately, data for the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine were not included. Jones et al. (2) reported at the recent Biennial Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia a mean weight gain of 2.16 kg (4.75 lb) in patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses after 10 weeks’ treatment with quetiapine at a mean dose of 480 mg/day. After 6 months’ treatment, the mean weight gain was 1.85 kg (4.07 lb) in a sample of 556 patients, whereas after 1 year, the increase was 2.77 kg (6.09 lb) (N=360).

This suggests that with quetiapine, weight gain with short-term treatment does not necessarily presage continued weight gain over the longer term. Concomitant antipsychotic medication was, however, permitted during the open-label extension phase of these studies, thus making difficult any definitive attribution of weight gain to any particular agent. However, Brecher and Melvin (3) recently reported that in a separate population in whom quetiapine was used as monotherapy, a median weight gain of only 1 kg was seen after treatment periods of between 53 and 78 weeks.

Dr. Allison and colleagues highlighted clozapine and olanzapine as being associated with more weight gain than other atypicals and suggested that they may, as a result, also contribute to the development of type II diabetes (4, 5). It is intriguing that Reinstein et al. (6) reported on a case series in which quetiapine appeared to normalize weight and diabetes control in patients who had previously both gained weight and developed diabetes while taking clozapine.

Although the atypical antipsychotics appear to have a more favorable side effect profile than do the conventional agents, their differing tolerability relative to one another (for example, in extrapyramidal side effects, prolactin, and weight effects) also should be considered when selecting treatments for patients with schizophrenia and other related disorders.

The authors have received research grants, sponsorship to attend conferences, consultancy payments, and lecture fees from AstraZeneca and other companies involved in the development of antipsychotics.

References

Allison DB, Mentore JL, Heo M, Chandler LP, Cappelleri JC, Infante MC, Weiden PJ: Antipsychotic-induced weight gain: a comprehensive research synthesis. Am J Psychiatry1999; 156:1686– 1696

Jones AM, Rak IW, Raniwalla J, Phung D, Melvin K: Weight changes in patients treated with Seroquel (quetiapine) (abstract). Schizophr Res 2000; 41:206

Brecher M, Melvin K: Long-term effects of quetiapine monotherapy on weight in patients with schizophrenia, in Abstracts of the 39th Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Nashville, TN, ACNP, 2000, p 351

Popli AP, Konicki PE, Jurjus GJ, Fuller MA, Jaskiw GE: Clozapine and associated diabetes mellitus. J Clin Psychiatry 1997; 58:108–111[PubMed][CrossRef]

Wirshing DA, Spellberg BJ, Erhart SM, Marder SR, Wirshing WC: Novel antipsychotics and new onset diabetes. Biol Psychiatry 1998; 44:778–783[PubMed][CrossRef]

Reinstein MJ, Sirotovskaya LA, Jones LE, Mohan S, Chasanov MA: Effect of clozapine-quetiapine combination therapy on weight and glycaemic control. Clin Drug Invest 1999; 18:99–104[CrossRef]

Allison DB, Mentore JL, Heo M, Chandler LP, Cappelleri JC, Infante MC, Weiden PJ: Antipsychotic-induced weight gain: a comprehensive research synthesis. Am J Psychiatry1999; 156:1686– 1696

Jones AM, Rak IW, Raniwalla J, Phung D, Melvin K: Weight changes in patients treated with Seroquel (quetiapine) (abstract). Schizophr Res 2000; 41:206

Popli AP, Konicki PE, Jurjus GJ, Fuller MA, Jaskiw GE: Clozapine and associated diabetes mellitus. J Clin Psychiatry 1997; 58:108–111[PubMed][CrossRef]

Wirshing DA, Spellberg BJ, Erhart SM, Marder SR, Wirshing WC: Novel antipsychotics and new onset diabetes. Biol Psychiatry 1998; 44:778–783[PubMed][CrossRef]

Reinstein MJ, Sirotovskaya LA, Jones LE, Mohan S, Chasanov MA: Effect of clozapine-quetiapine combination therapy on weight and glycaemic control. Clin Drug Invest 1999; 18:99–104[CrossRef]

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JONATHAN S.E. HELLEWELL, PETER M. HADDAD; Differing Tolerability Profiles Among Atypical Antipsychotics. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2001 Mar;158(3):501-501.

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