Aripiprazole for the Management of Olanzapine-induced Weight Gain

Weight gain is an important side effect of olanzapine. One therapeutic strategy might be the add-on of aripiprazole, a partial dopaminergic and serotonergic agonist. Here, we report on four patients who experienced a significant reduction of body weight after aripiprazole was added in a mean dose of 13.8 mg/day to the preexisting olanzapine therapy and olanzapine was reduced from a mean dose of 17.5 to 11.3 mg/day. We did not observe significant changes in fasting glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. This approach might increase safety, tolerability and patient's adherence to olanzapine treatment and should be further evaluated in controlled trials.

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