Objective: To examine prospective changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type-2 diabetes risk factors in young adult first episode psychotic (FEP) patients treated with second generation antipsychotic medications.
Methods: At baseline, fasting serum and anthropometric measures were obtained from 45 FEP patients and 41 healthy adults (controls) of similar age, ethnicity and sex; sixteen of the FEP patients remained on the same antipsychotic medication and were available for a second blood draw at 24 weeks of treatment. Serum was assayed for glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol and high and low density lipoproteins (HDL, LDL), adiponectin, leptin, interleukin 6, E-selectin and VCAM-1. Wilcoxon nonparametric tests were used to compare risk markers between the FEP and control group at baseline and to evaluate pre-post treatment changes within the FEP group.
Results: At baseline, the distributions of risk marker values were similar between the two groups and the percentages of FEP patients and healthy controls who were overweight/obese, dyslipidemic, hyperglycemic, and hyperinsulinemic did not differ. At 24 weeks, compared to baseline, FEP patients showed significant increases in BMI (p=0.0002), glucose (p=0.0449), insulin (p=0.0161), cholesterol (p=0.0129), leptin (p=0.0215), and E-selectin (p=0.0195), and a decrease in adiponectin (p=0.0371).
Conclusions: Among patients with first episode psychosis, 6-month treatment with second generation antipsychotics is associated with the exacerbation of pre-existing and emergence of new CVD and diabetes risk factors.