Sex differences in human lymphoblastoid cells sensitivities to antipsychotic drugs

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major concern in pharmacotherapy and are more common among women. Immortalized human lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) are emerging as a novel tool for studying interindividual variability in drug response, including ADRs. In the present study, we compared sensitivities of LCLs from unrelated healthy male and female donors to growth inhibition by a panel of common drugs. We observed large interindividual drug sensitivity variations with similar mean sensitivities recorded for LCLs from male and female donors for most tested drugs. A notable exception was observed for the typical antipsychotic haloperidol and the atypical antipsychotic risperidone, which exhibited, on average, more robust in vitro growth inhibition in male as compared with female LCLs. An opposite finding was observed for the antidepressant paroxetine, which was more potent for inhibiting the growth of female as compared with male LCLs. These observations are discussed in the context of the higher incidence of dystonia reported for male schizophrenia patients treated with haloperidol and the higher efficacy of paroxetine in female major depression patients.