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Statins are effective in treating dyslipidemia among psychiatric patients using second-generation antipsychotic agents

Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland, kari.ojala{at}niuva.fi

Eila Repo-Tiihonen

Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

Jari Tiihonen

Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland, Department of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio University Hospital, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

Leo Niskanen

Department of Medicine, Endocrinology and Diabetology, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland

Statins are widely used in the treatment of patients having high levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, there is little documentation on the ability of statins to treat dyslipidemia induced by second-generation antipsychotics (sGAs) and if so, to what extent. A goal of the present study was to evaluate these aspects among psychotic inpatients who were prescribed sGAs in a typical clinical setting. The study sample consisted of 28 psychotic male forensic psychiatric inpatients (mean age 44 years). All had sGA medication for their psychotic symptoms. secondary causes of dyslipidemia were excluded and statin therapy was initiated, according to the established guidelines. The change in TC, LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) levels were evaluated retrospectively and analysed by the Wilcoxon signed Ranks test. The lowering effectivity of statin treatment was 36% for TC, 49% for LDL-C and 29% for TG. Most of the patients (84%) achieved a target value for LDL-C of <3.0 mmol/L, and 54% achieved target value of <2.6 mmol/L, while HDL-C remained unchanged. These results were achieved with a low or moderate dose of statin during a period of 1 month. The effect of statins in lowering of TC, LDL-C and TG among dyslipidemic psychiatric patients that were treated with sGA was similar to the effectiveness of statin therapy in other clinical trial settings, and should be used when they are indicated.

Key Words: antipsychotic agents • cholesterol • dyslipidemia • psychiatric disorders • statins • triglycerides

This version was published on January 1, 2008

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 22, No. 1, 33-38 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881107077815


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