Weight gain and metabolic complications are major adverse effects of many psychotropic drugs. We aimed to understand how socio-economic status (SES), defined as the Swiss socio-economic position (SSEP), is associated with cardiometabolic parameters after initiation of psychotropic medications known to induce weight gain. Cardiometabolic parameters were collected in two Swiss cohorts following the prescription of psychotropic medications. The SSEP integrated neighborhood-based income, education, occupation, and housing condition. The results were then validated in an independent replication sample (UKBiobank), using educational attainment (EA) as a proxy for SES. Adult patients with a low SSEP had a higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome over one year versus patients with a high SSEP (Hazard ratio (95% CI) = 3.1 (1.5–6.5), n = 366). During the first 6 months of follow-up, a significant negative association between SSEP and body mass index (BMI), weight change, and waist circumference change was observed (25 ≤ age < 65, n = 526), which was particularly important in adults receiving medications with the highest risk of weight gain, with a BMI difference of 0.86 kg/m2 between patients with low versus high SSEP (95% CI: 0.03–1.70, n = 99). Eventually, a causal effect of EA on BMI was revealed using Mendelian randomization in the UKBiobank, which was notably strong in high-risk medication users (beta: −0.47 SD EA per 1 SD BMI; 95% CI: −0.46 to −0.27, n = 11,314). An additional aspect of personalized medicine was highlighted, suggesting the patients’ SES represents a significant risk factor. Particular attention should be paid to patients with low SES when initiating high cardiometabolic risk psychotropic medications.

Background It has been suggested that exposure to Childhood Trauma [CT] may play a role in the risk of obesity in Early Psychosis [EP] patients; however, whether this is independently of age at exposure to CT and the medication profile has yet to be investigated. Methods 113 EP-patients aged 18–35 were recruited from the Treatment and Early Intervention in Psychosis Program [TIPP-Lausanne]. Body Mass Index [BMI], Weight Gain [WG] and Waist Circumference [WC] were measured prospectively at baseline and after 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months of weight gain inducing psychotropic treatment. Patients were classified as Early-Trauma and Late-Trauma if the exposure had occurred before age 12 or between ages 12 and 16 respectively. Generalized Linear Mixed-Models were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, baseline BMI, medication and for diagnosis of depression. Results Late-Trauma patients, when compared to Non-Trauma patients showed greater WCs during the follow-up [p = 0.013]. No differences were found in any of the other follow-up measures. Conclusions Exposition to CT during adolescence in EP-patients treated with psychotropic medication is associated with greater WC during the early phase of the disease. Further investigation exploring mechanisms underlying the interactions between peripubertal stress, corticoids responsiveness and a subsequent increase of abdominal adiposity is warranted.

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Importance: Multiple studies conducted in the general population identified an association between self-reported coffee consumption and plasma lipid levels. To date, no study assessed whether and which plasma methylxanthines (caffeine and/or its metabolites, i.e., paraxanthine, theophylline, and theobromine) are associated with plasma lipids. In psychiatric patients, an important coffee consumption is often reported and many psychotropic drugs can induce a rapid and substantial increase of plasma lipid levels.Objective: To determine whether plasma methylxanthines are associated with metabolic parameters in psychiatric patients receiving treatments known to induce metabolic disturbances.Design, Setting, and Participants: Data were obtained from a prospective study including 630 patients with metabolic parameters [i.e., body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), and fasting triglycerides (TG)] monitored routinely during psychotropic treatment.Exposures: Plasma methylxanthines levels.Main Outcomes and Measures: Metabolic variables including BMI and plasma lipid levels.Results: Multivariate analyses indicated that BMI, TC, HDL-C, and non-HDL-C increased significantly with increasing total methylxanthines (pcorrected ≤ 0.05). In addition, compared to patients with plasma caffeine concentration in the lowest quartile, those with caffeine concentration in the highest quartile were twice more prone to suffer from non-HDL hypercholesterolemia (pcorrected = 0.05), five times more likely to suffer from hypertriglyceridemia (pcorrected = 0.01) and four times more susceptible to be overweight (pcorrected = 0.01).Conclusions and Relevance: This study showed that plasma caffeine and other methylxanthines are associated with worsening of metabolic parameters in patients receiving psychotropic treatments known to induce metabolic disturbances. It emphasizes that important caffeine consumption could be considered as an additional environmental risk factor for metabolic worsening in patients receiving such treatments.

Immune response induced by COVID-19 vaccine booster against delta and omicron variants was assessed in 65 adults (65–84 years old) early aftesr a first booster dose. An increase in SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies was shown in individuals not previously infected without evidence of an age-related effect, with lower increase in those infected before a single dose of primary vaccination. Of note, humoral response was observed only starting from the 5th day after the boost.