Adjunctive use of reboxetine in schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Schizophrenia is frequently complicated by depressive or negative symptoms that respond only moderately to treatment with antipsychotic drugs. Reboxetine is a novel antidepressant, which inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine. We sought to study the efficacy and tolerability of the adjunctive use of reboxetine in a cohort of schizophrenic patients with prominent depressive or negative symptoms.


METHODS
Sixteen schizophrenic inpatients were recruited for this study. All subjects received 4-8 mg of reboxetine/day while the antipsychotic medication (typical antipsychotics = 4; atypical antipsychotics = 12) was continued. All subjects underwent a standardized assessment including PANSS, CGI, HAMD, and CDSS before and after treatment with reboxetine (mean 26 +/- 17 d).


RESULTS
All subjects tolerated treatment with reboxetine. Adverse effects were mild and did not require discontinuation of reboxetine. All clinical scores (PANSS 93.1 vs. 63.1; CGI 5.4 vs. 4.1; HAMD 20.4 vs. 8.1; CDSS 12.5 vs. 4.6) improved significantly under adjunctive treatment with reboxetine (all P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The adjunctive use of reboxetine in schizophrenic patients was safe and well-tolerated. Our results suggest that the adjunctive use of reboxetine may be an effective treatment for depressive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
Raedler
Thomas J
TJ
University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martini str. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. traedler@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Jahn
Holger
H
Arlt
Josef
J
Kiefer
Falk
F
Schick
Mildred
M
Naber
Dieter
D
Wiedemann
Klaus
K
D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D000077593:Reboxetine; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D009025:Morpholines; D000077593:Reboxetine; D009638:Norepinephrine