Pharmacokinetic profile and clinical efficacy of long-acting risperidone: potential benefits of combining an atypical antipsychotic and a new delivery system.
Continuous long-term antipsychotic therapy is required for patients with schizophrenia to optimise treatment benefits. The use of long-acting antipsychotic preparations can help to ensure compliance with therapy and has been shown to improve efficacy in relapse prevention when compared with oral agents. How- ever, the use of long-acting agents has been limited, since this approach to patient care has only been available with conventional drugs. The atypical antipsychotic agents have provided a new option for the treatment of schizophrenia. However, entwined with health system limitations, partial or non-compliance remains a problem with oral atypical antipsychotic agents. Combining the attributes of the atypical antipsychotic class with the pharmacokinetic profile and compliance advantages of a long-acting formulation could potentially be an important advance in the management of patients requiring continuous anti- psychotic therapy. This review considers the available clinical data supporting possible advantages for the only long-acting atypical agent currently available, long-acting risperidone, as a microsphere formulation. The drug-delivery technology employed provides a sustained therapeutic plasma level, with administration once every 2 weeks, and this is translated into improved symptom control and improved quality of life, even in patients already deemed clinically stable on an oral agent or on a conventional depot antipsychotic.
Ereshefsky
Larry
L
California Clinical Trials, Glendale, California 91206, USA. ereshefsky@uthscsa.edu
Mannaert
Erik
E
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D065127:Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000378:metabolism; D018967:Risperidone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D065127:Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D018967:Risperidone