Efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole in patients with schizophrenia & schizoaffective disorders

Before the 1990s, treatment of psychoses centred on conventional agents whose tolerability was limited by extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS). The past decade has seen the emergence of newer generation of antipsychotic agents. These agents provide better negative symptom efficacy, less impaired cognition and lower risk of extrapyramidal syndromes. Aripiprazole, a new atypical antipsychotic drug, displayed efficacy similar to risperidone and haloperidol in numerous clinical trials. Aripiprazole does not cause significant prolactin elevation and is associated with a low rate of clinically significant weight gain compared with other atypical antipsychotics. Aripiprazole is a study drug for treating schizophrenia and has a novel pharmacologic profile. Aripiprazole provides a new treatment option with limited adverse effects for patients in need of antipsychotic therapy. The present study is a 4-week, open-labelled, randomized postmarketing clinical study conducted using aripiprazole as the study drug. Fixed doses of 15mg of the drug were administered throughout the study. A total of 249 patients with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomized. Efficacy measures included the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total, PANSS positive, PANSS negative and general psychopathology. Patients were evaluated for efficacy parameters at the end of 2(nd) week and also at the end of study. Unlike the other antipsychotics, aripiprazole was not associated with significant EPS, increase in body weight or increase in QTc interval. Aripiprazole, effective against positive and negative symptoms, is a safe and well-tolerated potential treatment for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.