Effects of risperidone on glucose lipid metabolism and bodyweight in drug-naïve first episode Chinese Han patients with schizophrenia: A prospective study

Background: Atypical antipsychotics may have a stronger potential effect on metabolic syndrome. A number of researchs have shown that risperidone have a risk for newly diagnosed hyperglycemia,new-onset diabetes and weight gain. Our study focused on the Chinese han population and used a large sample to study the effects of risperidone on glucose and lipid metabolism in drug-naïve first episode patients with schizophrenia. Methods: 175 inpatients meeting DSM-IV schizophrenia criteria recruited, 125 patients completed the study. All participants were hospitalized throughout the trial and had to eat the same diets. And patients need to make sure that no antipsychotic drugs other than risperidone or antidepressants are used.The course of risperidone treatment was 4mg-6mg/ day for 10 weeks. They received baseline evaluations before and 10 weeks after risperidone treatment.Patients received total cholesterol,HDL,LDL, triglyceride, plasma glucose, serum insulin levels, HOMA-IR and anthropometric measurements. Results: The average age of our study was 28.6±9.8 years; the mean course of the disease was 20.9±19.1 months , 14 cases of smoking. After 10 weeks, there were significant increases in BMI, body weight,waist circumference and waist-hip compared with baseline(all P<0.05).The insulin and HOMA-IR levels reached statistical significance compared with baseline(all P<0.05).However, no significant increase in the proportion of patients with IGT and IFG compared with baseline (P= 0.78, 0.72 respectively). Finally, there was a statistically significant increase in cholesterol and triglyceride levels (P = 0.05, 0.00 respectively). After 10 weeks of risperidone treatment, male patients had higher body weight, waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference than female patients (all p <0.01). Conclusion: Risperidone increased insulin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, body weight, BMI, homa-ir level, waist-hip ratio, and waist circumference in patients with schizophrenia.There were significant gender differences in waist-to-hip ratio,weight gain , and waist circumference among patients treated with risperidone