Clozapine: Improvement of Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Curēus
Afaque H Khan, Samina Zaidi

Abstract

We report five cases of treatment-resistant schizophrenia that presented with prominent negative and positive symptoms. They fulfill the criteria of diagnosis of schizophrenia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). They showed lack of response despite receiving multiple trials of first and second generation psychotropic agents. We decided to give these patients a trial of clozapine to improve their negative and positive symptoms as well as their quality of life. The patients showed various responses to the treatment. Two patients had a robust response to clozapine, two had a moderate response, and treatment was discontinued for one patient due to a side effect of eosinophilia with clozapine, with an eosinophil count increased to 40,000/mm3 (40%). Clozapine has been established to be more beneficial than conventional antipsychotics in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia and apparently more useful, based on existing evidence, in managing the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. We suspect that the improvement in negative symptoms will be associated with an improvement in positive symptoms as well as the compound has a direct action on neuronal pathways responsible...Continue Reading

Citations

Sep 27, 2019·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Behnam VafadariLeszek Kaczmarek

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antipsychotic Drugs

Antipsychotic drugs are a class of medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Discover the latest research on antipsychotic drugs here

Biomarkers for Type 2 Diabetes

Biomarkers can help understand chronic diseases and assist in risk prediction for prevention and early detection of diseases. Here is the latest research on biomarkers in type 2 diabetes, a disease in which the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin.