1.
Miocarditis inducida por clozapina durante la evaluación observacional, transversal y ongitudinal: comparación con otros antipsicóticos en ambientes naturalísticos.
Baptista, T, Carrizo, E, Rojas, N, Fernández, E, Velaz, G, Servigna, M, Serrano, A, Sandia, I, de Leon, J, Pérez-Lopresti, S
Investigacion clinica. 2016;(4):352-63
Abstract
Myocarditis occurs more frequently during clozapine (CLZ) administration than during treatment with other antipsychotic drugs (APs). In this observational study, we transversally screened outpatients for myocarditis by comparing a CLZ group of 132 subjects, with a non-CLZ group taking other APs (n = 371) only, and in 21 CLZ-treated patients and 18 subjects treated with other APs who had been followed for more than one year. The protocol included a) assessment of symptoms such as dyspnea, tachycardia, chest discomfort, fever, cough, and edema, b) blood pressure and heart auscultation; c) a standard electrocardiogram after a 5-minute rest, d) white cell count, and qualitative determination of troponin I, creatine-kinase-MB and myoglobin, and e) a cardiologist evaluation of subjects with suspected myocarditis. Only one case of myocarditis was detected, providing an approximation of the frequency of myocarditis of 1.6% in the first month of treatment. This was a 30-year-old man with schizophrenia who developed symptoms at day 6 after starting a treatment with 200 mg of CLZ a day without titration. Myocarditis was not observed during prolonged CLZ or other AP administration. These results support the proposal of starting CLZ treatment with a low dose and the feasibility of a simple protocol for myocarditis detection in psychiatry primary care.
2.
Safety of long-term clozapine administration. Frequency of cardiomyopathy and hyponatraemia: two cross-sectional, naturalistic studies.
Serrano, A, Rangel, N, Carrizo, E, Uzcátegui, E, Sandia, I, Zabala, A, Fernández, E, Tálamo, E, Servigna, M, Prieto, D, et al
The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry. 2014;(2):183-92
Abstract
BACKGROUND The antipsychotic drug (APD) clozapine (CLZ) is under-prescribed because of concerns about its safety. We evaluated in separate protocols the frequency of cardiomyopathy and hyponatraemia, which are adverse drug effects, where few comparative studies are available. METHODS Cross-sectional studies in subjects treated for at least 3 consecutive months with the same drug were conducted. Cardiomyopathy: Patients undergoing treatment either with CLZ (n = 125) or with other typical or atypical APDs (n = 59) were examined by a cardiologist who also recorded echocardiograms and electrocardiograms in order to diagnose cardiomyopathy. Hyponatraemia: Fasting sodium levels were assessed in patients receiving any of the following treatments: CLZ (n = 88), other atypical APDs (n = 61), typical APDs (n = 23), typical + atypical APDs (n = 11), and other drugs/drug-free (n = 36). RESULTS Cardiomyopathy: No case of cardiomyopathy was detected. The frequency of abnormal ventricular ejection fraction (< 55%) was similar in both treatment groups (p = 1). Hyponatraemia: The frequency of hyponatraemia (percentage; 95% CI) was: CLZ (3.4%; -0.7, 7.1); other atypical APDs (4.9%; -0.5, 10.3); typical APDs (26.1%; 8.2, 44.0); typical + atypical APDs (9.1%; -7.8, 26.0); other drugs/drug-free (0%). None of the CLZ hyponatraemia subjects were on monotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Our results are at odds with previous studies of CLZ-associated cardiomyopathy. However, they must be compared to further cross-sectional or prospective studies because most published data come from either case reports or pharmacovigilance systems. The frequency of hyponatraemia during CLZ administration was similar to that observed with other atypical APDs, and it was significantly lower than that recorded with typical agents. These results, along with numerous case reports on the effects of CLZ in patients with polydipsia and water intoxication, point to a safe or even positive profile of CLZ on electrolytic regulation.
3.
Polymorphisms of the LEP- and LEPR genes, metabolic profile after prolonged clozapine administration and response to the antidiabetic metformin.
Fernández, E, Carrizo, E, Fernández, V, Connell, L, Sandia, I, Prieto, D, Mogollón, J, Valbuena, D, Fernández, I, de Baptista, EA, et al
Schizophrenia research. 2010;(1-3):213-7
Abstract
BACKGROUND The role of leptin in atypical antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysfunction was explored by assessing the anthropometric and metabolic profile and the response to metformin (MET) of clozapine- (CLZ) treated schizophrenia patients according to their single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the leptin promoter (LEP2548/GA) and leptin receptor (LEPR Q223R) genes. METHODS Phase 1. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, serum glucose, HbA1C, lipids, leptin, cortisol, insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), metabolic syndrome and the frequencies of SNPs were assessed in 56 CLZ-treated patients (78.6% males). Phase 2. Fifty two phase 1 subjects were randomly assigned to MET XR (n=23) (1000 mg/day) or placebo (n=29) for 14 weeks. Changes in anthropometric and biochemical variables were compared between the SNPs. RESULTS Phase 1. The QQ group displayed the lowest triglyceride levels (p<0.05). No other significant difference was observed. Phase 2. Change in anthropometric variables did not differ between the genotypes in any treatment group. After MET, glucose levels significantly increased in the GG group (p<0.05), whereas the HOMA-IR and the low density cholesterol significantly decreased in the QQ- but not in the (QR+RR) group (p<0.05). No differences were observed after placebo. CONCLUSIONS BW response to CLZ was not related to LEP- and LEPR-SNPs. The GG and (QR+RR) genotypes showed an unexpectedly opposite and blunted response to MET administration respectively.