Open AccessAripiprazole reduces liver cell division
Author(s) -
Tinkara Pirc Marolt,
Barbara Kramar,
Klara Bulc Rozman,
Dušan Šuput,
Irina Milisav
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0240754
Subject(s) - aripiprazole , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , medicine , clozapine , liver injury , pharmacology , addiction , detoxification (alternative medicine) , psychiatry , dopamine , pathology , alternative medicine
Effects of aripiprazole on dopamine regulation are being tested as a treatment for patients with a dual diagnosis of schizophrenia and addictions, often cocaine dependence. Aripiprazole has one of the fewest side-effects among the second-generation antipsychotics. Nevertheless, severe aripiprazole hepatotoxicity was reported in persons with a history of cocaine and alcohol abuse. Here we report that therapeutically relevant aripiprazole concentrations, equal to laboratory alert levels in patients’ serum, reduce the rate of hepatocytes’ division. This could be an underlying mechanism of severe liver injury development in the patients with a history of alcohol and cocaine abuse, the two hepatotoxic agents that require increased ability of liver self-regeneration. Monitoring liver functions is, therefore, important in the cases when aripiprazole is co-prescribed or used with drugs with potential hepatotoxic effects.