Turkish
 
Home Page
Online Submission
Recent Issue
Archive
About
Instructions for Authors
Articles in Press
Editorial Board
Contact
  

Keyword

Title

Summary



   
Could Weight Loss During Clozapine Therapy be an Indicator of Poor Response?: A Case Report

Burcu KÖK KENDİRLİOĞLU, Aytül GÜRSU HARİRİ
2021 32(2): 137-141
[Back]    [Full Text (PDF)]    [E-Mail to Author]
Even though effectiveness of clozapine on treatment resistant
schizophrenia has been repeatedly demonstrated, it is also associated
with many adverse effects including weight gain. Curiously, significant
weight loss may occur in some patients. In this case report we discussed
whether the observed weight loss could be a negative prognostic factor.
The 56 year-old male patient, followed up with the diagnosis of
schizophrenia for 20 years, had persistent positive and negative
symptoms despite concurrent use of different antiypsychotics. He
was diagnosed with treatment-resistant schizophrenia and started on
clozapine with dose titration to 500 mg/day over 3 months. He was
observed to have lost 17.6% of his initial body weight after 7 months of
therapy. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score of
the patient did not change significantly.
There are a few case reports in the literature on weight loss during
clozapine therapy. Some proposed that the weight loss could be a sign
of weak response to treatment which is based on the observation that
the clinical response might be poor when there is a weight loss and no
change in blood triglyceride levels is observed with the treatment.
There is a need for more case-control and preclinical studies to explain
the mechanisms underlying weight loss and weak response to clozapine
therapy in schizophrenia.