Adjunctive use of reboxetine in schizophrenia.

Abstract

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).

CONCLUSION:

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.

• Authors: Thomas J Raedler, Holger Jahn, Josef Arlt, Falk Kiefer, Mildred Schick, Dieter Naber, Klaus Wiedemann
• Journal: European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists (Eur Psychiatry) Vol. 19 Issue 6 Pg. 366-9 (Sep 2004) ISSN: 0924-9338 [Print] England
• PMID: 15363476 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antidepressive Agents
• Antipsychotic Agents
• Morpholines
• Reboxetine
• Norepinephrine

Topics

• Adult
• Antidepressive Agents (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Antipsychotic Agents (therapeutic use)
• Cohort Studies
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
• Drug Therapy, Combination
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Morpholines (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Norepinephrine (metabolism)
• Reboxetine
• Schizophrenia (diagnosis, drug therapy)