Cariprazine for Mania Appears Safe and Well-Tolerated
At the 2014 meeting of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology, researcher Lakshmi Latham presented a poster on three studies of the atypical atypical antipsychotic caripazine, a treatment that has not yet been approved by the Federal Drug Administration. We call it an atypical atypical because it is a partial agonist at dopamine D2 and D3 receptors, meaning it stimulates the receptors a little, but in the presence of high levels of dopamine it blocks excess activity by sitting on the receptor and preventing the actions of the excess dopamine. Aripiprazole is also a partial agonist at dopamine and serotonin 5HT1a receptors, but caripazine differs in that it has a particular affinity for the D3 receptor.
Previous analyses had revealed that cariprazine has good acute antimanic efficacy. All three studies described by Latham were randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled three-week studies in patients with bipolar mania. In total the studies included 1065 patients, 442 of whom received placebo and 623 of whom received cariprazine.
Cariprazine doses from three studies were pooled, and ranged from 3-12 mg/day. Additional analyses evaluated the 3-6 and 9-12 mg/day groups specifically.
Approximately 70% of patients completed the study. The most common side effects included akathisia or restless legs (placebo, 5%; cariprazine, 20%), extrapyramidal disorder characterized by abnormal motor symptoms (5%, 13%), restlessness (2%, 6%) and vomiting (4%, 9%). The incidence of serious side effects was similar across the placebo and the treatment groups. Side effects that led to discontinuation of participation in the study occurred in 7% of placebo patients and 12% of cariprazine patients. Suicidal ideation was an infrequent side effect (placebo, 4; cariprazine, 2), and there were no suicide attempts.
Mean changes in weight were small (averaging 0.17kg in patients taking placebo and 0.54kg in those taking cariprazine), and the proportion of patients with 7% or higher increase in weight were similar across the two groups (both 2%). Mean changes in blood pressure and pulse were slightly greater with cariprazine and were related to dosage. Cariprazine was not associated with mean increases in electrocardiogram (EKG) parameters except for a slight increase in ventricular heart rate versus placebo (5.0 and 0.9 bpm, respectively). Mean changes in lipids and glucose were generally small and similar between groups. Levels of the hormone prolactin decreased in both groups.
Latham concluded that cariprazine treatment for three weeks was safe and well-tolerated.
Possible Heart Failure Risk with Pramipexole
We’ve written before about the drug pramipexole, which is typically used to treat Parkinson’s disease and restless legs, but can also improve depressed mood and cognition in those with bipolar disorder. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) published a warning in 2012 that the drug may increase risk of heart failure, though more research is needed to confirm this link. In a review of existing studies, the FDA found that heart failure occurred more often in participants taking pramipexole than those taking placebo, but the finding did not reach statistical significance.
Genetic Test Predicts Risk of Severe Rash While Taking Carbamazepine
Carbamazepine (also known by its trade name Tegretol or, for extended release, Equetro) is one of the most widely used drugs for the treatment of epilepsy, and is relatively underutilized in the treatment of bipolar disorder. One of the reasons is fear of a rare serious rash or other side effects.
The risk of the serious rash ranges from about one in 5,000 to one in 10,000. Loss of white blood cells that fight infection (a condition called agranulocytosis) occurs in about one in 20,000 people taking carbamazepine, while a decrease in white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets (aplastic anemia) occurs in about one in 100,000 patients.
There is no way of predicting who will develop the blood disorders in reaction to carbamazepine use. A patient should contact their doctor and get a white blood cell count if they develop some warning signs of these conditions, such as a fever or sore throat without other explanation or signs of bleeding or red spots under the skin (called petechiae) that could indicate low platelets.
Genetic Test for Risk of Rash
A genetic test is available that can help estimate the likelihood of the serious rash among certain populations. In those of Asian descent, particularly Han Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, and Indian populations, having a version of the gene HLA-B known as HLA-B*1502 is highly associated with developing the rash. (The odds ratio was 79.84 in a 2013 meta-analysis by Tangamornsuksan et al. in the journal JAMA Dermatology).
In those of northern European or Japanese descent, having a version of the gene HLA-A known as HLA-A*3101 is associated with the severe rash. (Odds ratio for developing the most severe rash was 25.93 in a study of Europeans published by McCormack et al. in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2011 and 10.8 in a study of Japanese published by Ozeki et al. in the journal Human Molecular Genetics in 2011). This HLA-A*3101 gene is present in about 2 to 5% of Europeans and 9% of Japanese.
A mild, non-serious rash with redness and itchiness occurs in about 5 to 10% of patients taking carbamazepine, and almost always goes away quickly upon stopping the drug. For patients taking carbamazepine who develop any rash, stopping the drug is the safest and most conservative thing to do. However, those who have taken the HLA test who know they do not have the risk genes and have only the benign rash might want to consider continuing to take the drug.
Benefits of Carbamazepine
There are a number of reasons why carbamazepine may be worthy of a treatment trial in patients with bipolar disorder who are not doing well on other agents. Carbamazepine works well in many patients with bipolar illness who have some of the common clinical predictors of a poor response to lithium. These include: having dysphoric (anxious, irritable) rather than euphoric mania, having an anxiety or substance disorder comorbidity, having had many prior episodes or rapid cycling (four or more episodes/year), not having distinct episodes with a period of wellness in between, having a sequential pattern of depression followed by mania followed by a well interval (D-M-I rather than M-D-I), having a schizoaffective disorder with delusions or hallucinations that persist after a manic or depressive episode has ended, and having no family history of mood disorders (especially bipolar disorder).
Some patients who do not respond to another anticonvulsant such as valproate do respond to carbamazepine. Patients with bipolar depression who have had a prior history of alcoholism may also do particularly well on carbamazepine. A benefit of the long-acting version of carbamazepine called Equetro is that it can be taken at bedtime and thus help with sleep and minimize daytime side effects.
Editor’s Note: Carbamazepine induces liver enzymes called CYP3A4 that increase the metabolism (breakdown) of carbamazepine and other drugs. Several drugs that inhibit 3A4 (such verapamil and erythromycin) prevent the breakdown of carbamazepine, causing blood levels of the drug to increase and produce side effects. If you are taking carbamazepine, tell your pharmacist so he or she can monitor any other drugs you are taking for potential interactions with carbamazepine.
Knowing about the rare skin and blood side effects of carbamazepine and some of the clinical predictors of a good response to the drug may be helpful in determining whether the potential benefits of carbamazepine outweigh the risks.
Lithium Increases Parathormone and Reduces Vitamin D Levels
Lithium treatment is associated with a moderate incidence of hyperparathyroidism, usually observed as an elevated concentration of calcium in the blood in addition to elevated parathormone levels, and often associated with the development of a tumor (adenoma) of the parathyroid gland.
In a recent study by Van Melick et al. published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, among 111 patients with an average age of 75 years, 24-hour calcium excretion was elevated in only 3% of the patients, but levels of parathormone were elevated in 48%. Duration of lithium treatment was associated with lower vitamin 25OH D. Vitamin D is important for healthy bones and good cognitive functioning.
Editor’s Note: Lithium-induced hyperparathyroid should be investigated in those with elevated calcium levels, and if found, surgical removal of the parathyroid gland may be indicated. Low vitamin D is common in the US population. It is also particularly low in patients with mania and elderly patients on who have been on lithium for more than ten years. (Levels are below normal in 77% of these elderly individuals.) Assessment of vitamin D levels in those on long-term lithium is advisable, in addition to monitoring the thyroid, kidney function, and calcium metabolism.
Metformin Effective for Treating Antipsychotic-Induced Amenorrhea, Weight Gain, and Insulin Resistance in Women
Treatment with antipsychotics often has side effects such as amenorrhea (loss of the menstrual period) and weight gain that make sticking to a treatment regimen difficult for some patients. A 2012 study by Wu et al. in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that the drug metformin, often used to treat diabetes, can reverse these changes. The 84 female patients recruited for the study were being treated for a first episode schizophrenia, were on one antipsychotic, and had experienced amenorrhea for several months. They received either placebo or 1000mg/day of metformin in addition to their antipsychotic treatment for six months. Seventy-six women completed the trial.
Metformin was able to reverse the side effects in many of the women. Menstruation returned in 28 of the patients taking metformin compared to only two patients taking placebo. Among those on metformin, body mass index (BMI) decreased by a mean of 0.93, compared to a mean increase in those on placebo (0.85). Insulin resistance improved in the women on metformin as well.
Editor’s Note: Metformin can also delay the onset of type II diabetes in those in the borderline diabetic range. The weight loss on metformin was not spectacular and other options include the combination of the antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin) and the opiate antagonist naltrexone (Revia, 50mg/day), monotherapy with topiramate (Topamax), the fixed combination of topiramate and phentermine (Qsymia), or monotherapy with zonisamide (Zonegran).
Weight Gain and Metabolic Risks of Antipsychotic Drugs in Children and Adolescents
A study published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology in late 2011 reviewed the various weight and metabolic side effects of drugs like olanzapine, clozapine, risperidone, quetiapine, and aripiprazole.
Across 34 published head-to-head and placebo-controlled studies in youth with psychotic and bipolar disorders, weight gain ranged from 3.8 to 16.2 kg with olanzapine (n=353), 0.9-9.5 kg with clozapine (n=97), 1.9-7.2 kg with risperidone (n=571), 2.3-6.1 kg with quetiapine (n=133), and 0-4.4 kg with aripiprazole (n=451).
Creative People More Likely to Have Mental Illness
According to a large family study of people with severe mental disorders that was published by Kyaga et al. in the British Journal of Psychiatry last year, people with bipolar disorder and siblings of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were much more likely to be working in creative professions than people without severe mental illness.
Kyaga talked to Medscape Medical News about the study:
“I think the study stresses the importance of treating all patients individually, and with the aim of finding the optimal treatment with regards to effectiveness, while minimizing the adverse effects that medication can have on positive aspects of psychiatric disorders,” Dr. Kyaga said.
“We often encounter the suggestion that lithium reduces creativity in patients with bipolar disorder and that adherence therefore is difficult. Now we can say that it is true that bipolar disorder is in fact associated with increased creativity, but we also know from previous research that terminating treatment with lithium in bipolar disorder will, in the long run, disrupt creative behavior,” he continued.
“We therefore need to pay close attention to what patients tell us while being treated, so that we can find a regimen that will work for them to prevent the disastrous consequences of severe psychiatric disorder, while providing them opportunities to uphold their creative behaviors in the long run,” Dr. Kyaga said.
Ziprasidone Does Not Seem to Cause Arrhythmias, As Once Feared
A comprehensive review of ziprasidone’s effect on the QTc interval, a measure of electrical activity in the heart, has been completed by John Kane of the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, NY. He and his colleagues reviewed relevant data that had been published over the past decade. Ziprasidone can prolong the QTc interval, which theoretically puts a person at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. Kane and colleagues concluded that the effect of ziprasidone on the QTc interval is related to dose and to the patient’s baseline QTc interval.
The QTc prolongation appears to plateau at the higher end of the usual clinical dose range of ziprasidone. In their review, the researchers found no cases of a QTc interval greater than 480 milliseconds, which is thought to be the threshold for developing vulnerability to arrhythmias. Additionally, no deaths were attributed to ziprasidone in any of the studies reviewed.
Ziprasidone side effects differ in different mood states
Keming Gao from Case-Western Reserve University reviewed the adverse effects of ziprasidone monotherapy in the treatment of patients with bipolar depression, mania, or schizophrenia. Gao noted that akathisia (restless legs) and other extrapyramidal side effects (such as tremor or speech problems) during mania were more common among patients on ziprasidone than among those on placebo, and these effects were more often found in patients with mania than those with depression.
Editor’s note: The finding that these extrapyramidal side effects are more common during mania is interesting because it runs contrary to findings on another atypical antipsychotic, aripiprazole. Aripiprazole is a partial dopamine agonist, meaning it partially activates dopamine receptors, and bipolar depressed patients on aripiprazole experience more akathisia than patients taking aripiprazole for mania or schizophrenia do.
Ziprasidone fully blocks dopamine receptors, and this may explain why its effects on dopamine turnover may, in contrast to aripiprazole, convey greater risk for extrapyramidal side effects in mania than in depression. This is unusual since most side effects tend to be more prominent during the depressive phases than manic phases of the illness. The reasons for this reversal with ziprasidone deserve further investigation and clarification.
New Atypical Antipsychotic Lurasidone Appears To Improve Schizophrenia Without Weight-Gain Side Effects
A study by a research group that included Antony Loebel of pharmaceutical company Sunovion; Steven Potkin of the University of California, Irvine; and Herbert Meltzer from Vanderbilt University summarizes data on a new atypical antipsychotic FDA-approved for treatment of schizophrenia. This agent, lurasidone (Latuda), was studied in a double-blind, placebo-controlled six-week trial in patients with schizophrenia.
The drug is a new psychotropic agent that has a high affinity for dopamine D2 receptors and serotonin 5HT2A, 5HT1A, and 5HT7 receptors. (New data suggest that antagonistic effects on 5HT7 receptors may be related to antidepressant efficacy.)
In the study, patients were randomized to receive lurasidone at 80mg/day, lurasidone at 160mg/day, quetiapine XR at 600mg/day, or placebo. Evening dosing was used. Both dose levels of lurasidone resulted in significant degrees of improvement compared with quetiapine XR and placebo.
The side effects profile for lurasidone was also promising; patients were no more likely to gain weight on lurasidone than on placebo, while there was a mean 2kg weight increase on quetiapine XR. In addition, total cholesterol and triglycerides on both doses of lurasidone were similar to that on placebo, in contrast to small but significant increases on quetiapine XR.
There were significant increases in levels of prolactin (a hormone related to lactation, sex function, and bone demineralization) on lurasidone at both 80mg (+ 0.8mg/dl) and 160mg (+ 3mg/dl), while small decreases in prolactin were observed on quetiapine XR (-0.3 mg/dl) and on placebo (-0.8 mg/dl).
The data suggest that lurasidone is effective in the treatment of patients with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia, with significant effects occurring as early as day 4. This study had a low rate of adverse events. Read more
Track Your Moods with Life Charting
If you have unipolar depression or bipolar disorder and are having trouble stabilizing your mood, we recommend nightly charting of mood, medications and side effects on the easy-to-use Monthly Mood Chart Personal Calendar (pictured below) or the National Institute of Mental Health Life Chart (NIMH-LCM), both of which are available for download.
![Page 3 Sample Mood Chart](https://bipolarnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Page-3-300x249.jpg)
Sample Mood Chart
Click on the Life Charts tab above to download the personal calendar, which includes space for rating mood, functioning, hours of sleep, life events, side effects, and other symptoms such as anxiety. Then bring the chart to each visit with your physician to help in the assessment of treatments.
Life charting can help determine which medications are working partially and need to be augmented further, and which need to be eliminated because of side effects. Since there are now many potential treatments for depression and bipolar disorder (some FDA-approved and some not), a careful assessment of how well each new treatment works for a particular patient is essential to finding the optimal treatment regimen.