Abstract
Weight gain is a major side-effect of treatment with clozapine. In order to investigate the influence of the atypical neuroleptic clozapine on leptin secretion, serum leptin levels were measured in 12 patients at baseline and for a 10-week period after initiation of treatment. Serum clozapine levels and levels of its metabolites were simultaneously assessed. Alterations of body weight and body composition were determined. During the 10-week observation period leptin levels differed significantly from the levels determined at baseline (P < 0.0001). during the first 2 weeks of treatment serum leptin levels at least doubled in eight of the 12 patients. the maximal relative increase over baseline was 536%. low doses of clozapine were sufficient to induce this effect. within a 10-week period mean body weight, mean body mass index, mean fat mass and mean lean body mass all increased. based on the results we suggest that in predisposed individuals clozapine induces an increased appetite; overeating and weight gain can ensue, which in turn underlie elevated leptin secretion.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brömel, T., Blum, W., Ziegler, A. et al. Serum leptin levels increase rapidly after initiation of clozapine therapy. Mol Psychiatry 3, 76–80 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000352
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000352
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Approach Bias Modification (ABM) training on food cravings in people taking antipsychotic medication
Trials (2020)
-
Biopsychosocial factors associated with disordered eating behaviors in schizophrenia
Annals of General Psychiatry (2020)
-
Food craving and consumption evolution in patients starting treatment with clozapine
Psychopharmacology (2019)
-
Psychotropic drug prescribing in an Australian specialist child and adolescent eating disorder service: a retrospective study
Journal of Eating Disorders (2013)
-
Neural changes associated with appetite information processing in schizophrenic patients after 16 weeks of olanzapine treatment
Translational Psychiatry (2012)