Past Issues

Objective: Second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) drugs have a favorable
therapeutic benefi cial profi le in patients with schizophrenia. But, we have more
concerns about their adverse events in metabolic effects, which are less studied in
paliperidone, an SGA. Its reported side effects include extrapyramidal symptoms,
headache, insomnia, and somnolence as well as weight gain. Here, we report a patient
with schizophrenia who was treated with paliperidone and developed metabolic
effects. Case Report: More than one year ago, 33-year-old male patient with
schizophrenia had psychotic symptoms and received paliperidone. He responded
well to paliperidone and he was maintained with at adequate dosage and duration.
His body weight was increased from 69.5 kg to 96.4 kg after one-year treatment.
His other metabolic effects included dyslipidemia and hyperuricemia. But he had
poor drug compliance after development of metabolic effects. Conclusion: Psychiatrists
should be cautious about the possibility of having paliperidone-induced
metabolic effects. Efforts on psychoeducation should be made to prevent or minimize
the adverse effects.