Aripiprazole and suicidality.

Cases of psychotic symptoms that worsen after treatment with aripiprazole have been described. We report the case of a 19-year-old patient who, although her psychotic symptoms did not worsen, attempted suicide after switching from risperidone to aripiprazole. The patient had not shown any aggressive behaviour towards herself or others in the 18 months before the introduction of aripiprazole, nor following its discontinuation (12 months). The observed time sequence, with the repetition 4 weeks later of high suicidal behaviour, led us to consider that this effect might possibly be linked to the aripiprazole treatment, which could have increased the risk of suicide in this patient.

Addition of aripiprazole to the clozapine may be useful in reducing anxiety in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

There exist many case reports and studies on the antipsychotic augmentation by aripirazole in partial responders to clozapine, the most seem to be finding a slight difference in the PANSS and CGI scores after the aripirazole addition. The results of our report are compatible with those of other studies but, we have found a considerable antianxiety action in both of the cases. The 5HT1A agonism of aripirazole could be hypothesized as mechanism contributing to this effect.

Emerging pharmacotherapies for alcohol dependence: a systematic review focusing on reduction in consumption.

BACKGROUND: European Medicines Agency guidelines recognize two different treatment goals for alcohol dependence: abstinence and reduction in alcohol consumption. All currently approved agents are indicated for abstinence. This systematic review aimed to identify drugs in development for alcohol dependence treatment and to establish, based upon trial design, if any are seeking market authorization for reduction in consumption. METHODS: We searched PubMed and Embase (December 2001-November 2011) to identify agents in development for alcohol dependence treatment. Additional studies were identified by searching ClinicalTrials.gov and the R&D Insight and Clinical Trials Insight databases. Studies in which the primary focus was treatment of comorbidity, or n≤20, were excluded. Studies were then classified as 'abstinence' if they: described a detoxification/alcohol withdrawal period; enrolled patients who had undergone detoxification previously; or presented relapse/abstinence rates as the primary outcome. Studies in patients actively drinking at baseline were classified as 'reduction in consumption'. RESULTS: Of 602 abstracts identified, 45 full-text articles were eligible. Five monotherapies were in development for alcohol dependence treatment: topiramate, fluvoxamine, aripiprazole, flupenthixol and nalmefene. Nalmefene was the only agent whose sponsor was clearly seeking definitive approval for reduction in consumption. Development status was unclear for topiramate, fluvoxamine, aripiprazole and flupenthixol. Fifteen agents were examined in published exploratory investigator-initiated trials; the majority focused on abstinence. Ongoing (unpublished) trials tended to focus on reduction in consumption. CONCLUSIONS: While published studies generally focused on abstinence, ongoing trials focused on reduction in consumption, suggesting a change in emphasis in the approach to treating alcohol dependence.

Therapeutic drug monitoring of seven psychotropic drugs and four metabolites in human plasma by HPLC-MS.

A simple and sensitive LC-MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of aripiprazole (ARI), atomoxetine (ATO), duloxetine (DUL), clozapine (CLO), olanzapine (OLA), sertindole (STN), venlafaxine (VEN) and their active metabolites dehydroaripiprazole (DARI), norclozapine (NCLO), dehydrosertindole (DSTN) and O-desmethylvenlafaxine (OVEN) in human plasma. The above mentioned compounds and the internal standard (remoxipride) were extracted from 0.5 mL plasma by solid-phase extraction (mix mode support). The analytical separation was carried out on a reverse phase liquid chromatography at basic pH (pH 8.1) in gradient mode. All analytes were monitored by MS detection in the single ion monitoring mode and the method was validated covering the corresponding therapeutic range: 2-200 ng/mL for DUL, OLA, and STN, 4-200 ng/mL for DSTN, 5-1000 ng/mL for ARI, DARI and finally 2-1000 ng/mL for ATO, CLO, NCLO, VEN, OVEN. For all investigated compounds, good performance in terms of recoveries, selectivity, stability, repeatability, intermediate precision, trueness and accuracy, was obtained. Real patient plasma samples were then successfully analysed.

Psychopharmacologie des troubles bipolaires

Épidémiologie et classification des troubles bipolaires - Maltraitance dans l'enfance: un facteur de mauvais pronostic pour le traitement des troubles bipolaires - Hypothèses neurobiologiques et cibles des stabilisateurs de l'humeur - Approche critique des études sponsorisées par l'industrie pharmaceutique - Pharmacogénétique des troubles bipolaires - Comment définir un stabilisateur de l'humeur - Lithium - Carbamazépine et oxcarbazépine - Lamotrigine - Prégabaline et gabapentine - Topiramate - Valproate - Antipsychotiques de seconde génération - Aripiprazole - Clozapine - Olanzapine - Quétiapine - Rispéridone et hydroxyrispéridone - Autres médicaments utilisés dans les troubles bipolaires - Médicaments pouvant potentiellement induire un syndrome (hypo)maniaque - Médicaments pouvant potentiellement induire un état dépressif - Recommandations sur la prise en charge du trouble bipolaire - Quand introduire un stabilisateur de l'humeur ? - Traitement d'un premier épisode maniaque - Le traitement des phases maniaques - Traitement de la dépression et rôle des antidépresseurs - Prévention du suicide - Traitement des états mixtes - Le traitement des cycles rapides - Traitement du trouble bipolaire II - Combinaisons de traitements pour les phases maniaques - Traitements combinés pour la prévention de rechutes/récidives - Troubles bipolaires, grossesse et allaitement - Troubles bipolaires chez l'enfant et l'adolescent - Troubles bipolaires chez les patients d'âge gériatrique - Traitement du trouble bipolaire et du trouble déficit d'attention-hyperactivité (TDA-H) - Traitement des troubles bipolaires avec troubles anxieux - Comorbidité avec les addictions - Traitement des troubles du sommeil chez le patient bipolaire - Traitement des troubles bipolaires et des troubles de la personnalité borderline - Traitement des troubles bipolaires en présence d'une pathologie somatique