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The effects of pioglitazone adjuvant therapy on negative symptoms of patients with chronic schizophrenia: a double‐blind and placebo‐controlled trial
Author(s) -
Iranpour Negar,
Zandifar Atefeh,
Farokhnia Mehdi,
Goguol Amirhossein,
Yekehtaz Habibeh,
KhodaieArdakani MohammadReza,
Salehi Bahman,
Esalatmanesh Sophia,
Zeionoddini Atefeh,
Mohammadinejad Payam,
Zeinoddini Arefeh,
Akhondzadeh Shahin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.2517
Subject(s) - pioglitazone , placebo , positive and negative syndrome scale , risperidone , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , medicine , randomized controlled trial , adverse effect , psychosis , psychiatry , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , type 2 diabetes , alternative medicine , pathology
Objective The evident central role of inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic derangement in pathophysiology of negative symptoms of schizophrenia has opened new insights into probable pharmacological options for these symptoms. Pioglitazone is an antidiabetic agent with anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of pioglitazone as an adjunct to risperidone for reduction of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Methods In this randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial, 40 patients with chronic schizophrenia and a minimum score of 20 on the negative subscale of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were randomly allocated to receive risperidone plus either pioglitazone (30 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks. Patients' symptoms and adverse events were rated at baseline and weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8. The difference between the two groups in decline of PANSS negative subscale scores was considered as the primary outcome of this study. Results At the study endpoint, patients in the pioglitazone group showed significantly more improvement in PANSS negative subscale scores ( p < 0.001) as well as PANSS total scores ( p = 0.01) compared with the placebo group. Conclusion These findings suggest the probable efficacy of pioglitazone as an augmentation therapy in reducing the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.