title: Effects of switching to aripiprazole from current atypical antipsychotics on subsyndromal symptoms and tolerability in patients with bipolar disorder.
abstract: We evaluated the effectiveness of aripiprazole among bipolar patients who had switched to this medication as a result of difficulty maintaining on their prestudy atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) because of subsyndromal mood symptoms or intolerance. This study included 77 bipolar patients who were in syndromal remission with an AAP as monotherapy or with an AAP combined with a mood stabilizer(s) who needed to switch from their present AAP because of subsyndromal symptoms or intolerance. At 24 weeks after switching to aripiprazole, the remission rates on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and on both the MADRS and the Young Mania Rating Scale were increased significantly in the full sample and in the inefficacy subgroup. In the inefficacy subgroup, the MADRS score change was significant during the 24 weeks of study. Total cholesterol and prolactin decreased significantly after switching to aripiprazole. The proportion of patients who had abnormal values for central obesity and hypercholesterolemia decreased significantly from baseline to week 24. These findings suggest that a change from the current AAP to aripiprazole was associated with improvement in subsyndromal mood symptoms and several lipid/metabolic or safety profile parameters in patients with bipolar disorder with tolerability concerns or subsyndromal mood symptoms.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of KoreabDepartment of Psychiatry, Seoul National HospitalcDepartment of Psychiatry, Seoul Paik Hospital, College of MedicinedStress Research Institute, Inje University, SeouleDepartment of Psychiatry, Ilsan Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, GoyangfDepartment of Psychiatry, Chonbuk National University Medical School, JeonjugDepartment of Psychiatry, Naju National Hospital, NajuhDepartment of Psychiatry, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, DaeguiDepartment of Psychiatry, Haeundae Paik Hospital, Paik Institute for Clinical Research, College of Medicine, Inje UniversityjDepartment of Health Science and Technology, Graduate School of Inje University, BusankDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dongguk University, GyeongjulDepartment of Psychiatry, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Sup
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Won-Myong
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Bahk
authors.forename: Young-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sangkeun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Bo-Hyun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Seunghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Jeong Goo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hwang-Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Kwanghun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Moon-Doo
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068180:Aripiprazole / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D057915:Drug Substitution / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000068180:Aripiprazole