Aripiprazole may enhance schizophrenia treatment

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In patients with schizophrenia, adding the drug Abilify (also known as aripiprazole) to Clozaril (also known as clozapine) appears to reduce negative symptoms but does not lead to a significant overall improvement, according to Korean researchers. Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder in which patients experience distorted thinking, hallucinations and abnormal emotions. The disease is classified as a psychotic disorder, meaning that patients are often not completely in touch with reality. Therefore, the disease is treated with antipsychotic drugs, including the newer, "atypical" drugs like aripiprazole and clozapine. In a report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Dr. Yong Sik Kim of Seoul National University College of Medicine and colleagues note that there are several reports that aripiprazole is useful in managing depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, whereas clozapine may be associated with a worsening of these symptoms. To investigate whether the combination might be more effective than clozapine alone, the researchers studied 62 patients with a history of treatment failure or only a partial response to clozapine drug therapy. They were randomized to receive supplementary treatment with clozapine 5 to 30 milligrams daily or with placebo. After 8 weeks of therapy, there was no overall between-group difference in psychiatric symptoms, according to the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) score, side effects, or subjective well-being. However, the two-drug combination was significantly more effective than clozapine alone in alleviating negative symptoms, the researchers report. Furthermore, the researchers noted favorable changes in metabolic profile with aripiprazole treatment.