title: Serum haloperidol concentration and clinical response in schizophrenia.
abstract: Previous studies have reported a therapeutic window (i.e., a curvilinear relationship between clinical response and drug level) for haloperidol concentrations in serum or plasma. The authors treated 30 acutely decompensated schizophrenic inpatients with a fixed dose of haloperidol (.4 mg/kg/day). After 6 weeks there was no statistically significant correlation between clinical improvement and serum haloperidol concentration. Fifteen subjects with serum concentrations of 5-15 ng/ml did not differ in clinical improvement compared with 15 subjects who had concentrations above 15 ng/ml. These data are consistent with a therapeutic plateau, rather than a window, and suggest that in most cases there is no clinical advantage to the use of haloperidol doses greater than approximately 30 mg/day in schizophrenic patients.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychiatry Branch, NIMH, Neuropsychiatric Research Hospital at Saint Elizabeths, Washington, DC 20032.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kirch
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Bigelow
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Korpi
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zalcman
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wyatt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D006220:Haloperidol