IntroductionCognitive impairment is a core feature and shows the highest impact on functional outcome in patients with schizophrenia. There have been no previous studies investigating the role of the pharmacist in a multidisciplinary team on cognitive outcomes in patients with schizophrenia.PurposeWe evaluated the impact of pharmacist intervention on cognitive outcomes in patients with schizophrenia by focusing on anticholinergic discontinuation.Patients and methodsA prospective, open-label, randomized, controlled study was conducted. Patients with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to either the pharmacist intervention or usual care groups. In the pharmacist intervention group, the pharmacist identified drug-related problems (DRPs) and provided a pharmacotherapy suggestion, while there was no intervention in the usual care group. The primary outcome was mean change from baseline of executive function by using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) perseverative errors within the pharmacist intervention group at week 12.ResultsA total of 30 patients completed the study (13 in the pharmacist intervention group and 17 in the usual care group). WCST perseverative errors at the end of the study within the pharmacist intervention group improved significantly from baseline (P=0.003). DRPs at week 12 were reduced by 85.19% and 9.76% in the pharmacist intervention and usual care groups, respectively. The most common intervention was the discontinuation of anticholinergics in patients without extrapyramidal side effects.ConclusionAdded-on pharmacist intervention in a multidisciplinary team could help to improve cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia by reducing DRPs and optimizing the drug therapy regimen, especially for anticholinergic discontinuation.

Therefore, HTR2C genetic variants may be involved in the susceptibility to MS in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. Additionally, there was a gender effect in the presence of MS. No effect of LEP or LEPR polymorphisms or the combination of HTR2C-LEP and HTR2C-LEPR was observed for the presence of MS.

Objective To determine whether genetic polymorphisms related to pharmacodynamics with metabolic adverse effects, namely leptin promoter ( LEP ) rs7799039, leptin receptor rs1137101, dopamine D2 rs4436578, serotonin 5-HT2A rs6313, and serotonin 5-HT2C rs518147 and rs12836771, are associated with hyperglycemia induced by risperidone or clozapine in adult Thai patients with psychosis. Methods A total of 180 patients treated with risperidone-based ( n =130) or clozapine-based ( n =50) regimens were included in this study. Blood samples were analyzed for genotyping of the candidate genes and biochemical testing. Genotyping was performed by conducting a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction-based analysis. Results The prevalence of hyperglycemia was higher in patients receiving clozapine (64.0%) than in those receiving risperidone (30.8%). Among the candidate genes, only the LEP rs7799039 polymorphism demonstrated a significant association with hyperglycemia (χ 2 =9.879, P =0.008) in patients treated with risperidone; patients with the AA genotype had the highest risk (41.1%), followed by those with AG (20.8%) and GG (0%) genotypes. Using the recessive genetic model (AA vs AG + GG), the odds ratio and 95% CI were 3.28 and 1.44 −7.50, respectively. None of the genes were associated with hyperglycemia in patients treated with clozapine. A binary logistic regression revealed that the LEP rs7799039 polymorphism demonstrated a significant association with hyperglycemia, independent of body-mass index (BMI) in patients receiving risperidone; the odds ratio (95% CI) was 3.188 (1.399–7.262), P =0.006. By contrast, none of the pharmacodynamic genetic factors, except for BMI, were significantly associated with hyperglycemia in patients receiving clozapine. Conclusion The risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with the LEP rs7799039 polymorphism in Thai adults receiving risperidone but not in those receiving clozapine. Clarifying underlying mechanisms and risk of hyperglycemia provides an opportunity to prevent impaired glucose metabolism in patients receiving risperidone or clozapine.

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Background: Patients with psychotic disorders who receive atypical antipsychotic drugs often develop metabolic abnormalities. The sterol regulatory element-binding factor 2 (SREBF2) gene and insulin-induced gene (INSIG) have important roles in lipid metabolism. A previous study indicated that risperidone stimulated both lipogenesis and cholesterogenesis through activation of SREBP2 expression and inhibition of INSIG2. The SREBF2 gene and INSIG2 polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with metabolic abnormalities. Objective: To investigate the association of the SREBF2 gene (rs1052717, rs2267439, and rs2267443) and INSIG2 (rs7566605, rs11123469, and rs17587100) polymorphisms and the presence of obesity and dyslipidemia in Thai psychotic disorder patients treated with risperidone. Methods: All 113 psychiatric patients using risperidone were evaluated for their lipid profile and screened for obesity criteria. We genotyped the SREBF2 gene and INSIG2 polymorphisms using TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: None of the studied SREBF2 gene and INSIG2 SNPs were associated with obesity in Thai psychotic disorder patients receiving risperidone. Nonetheless, the SREBF2 rs2267443 (G/A) A-allele carriers were at a higher risk for hypertriglyceridemia, whereas the INSIG2 rs11123469 (T/C) C-allele carriers had a lower risk for hypertriglyceridemia, after being adjusted for clinical characteristics using multiple logistic regression. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the SREBF2 gene rs2267443 (G/A) and the INSIG2 rs11123469 (T/C) polymorphisms are associated with dyslipidemia in Thai psychotic disorder patients treated with risperidone. Further studies with prospective designs and larger patient groups are needed.