title: Clozapine: weight gain in a pair of monozygotic twins concordant for schizophrenia and mild mental retardation.
abstract: Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic known to cause considerable weight gain. The extent to which genetic factors determine weight gain is unknown. Here we report on a pair of female monozygotic twins concordant for schizophrenia and mild mental retardation who were treated with clozapine over 5.5 years. One twin gained a total of 53.1 kg and had a weight of 107.5 kg (BMI=38.1 kg/m2) at the end of the observation period. The other twin gained a total of 48.2 kg and finally had a weight of 100.4 kg (BMI=33.8 kg/m2). Because both patients experienced considerable weight gain during treatment, our observation suggests that the antipsychotic-induced weight gain is under strong genetic control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Philipps-University, Hans-Sachs-Str. 4-8, 35033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Wehmeier
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gebhardt
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidtke
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Remschmidt
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hebebrand
authors.forename: Frank M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Theisen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003024:Clozapine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000523:psychology*; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003024:Clozapine