Could Weight Loss During Clozapine Therapy be an Indicator of Poor Response?: A Case Report.

Abstract

Even though effectiveness of clozapine on treatment resistant schizophrenia has been repeatedly demonstrated, it is also associated with many adverse effects including weight gain. Curiously, significant weight loss may occur in some patients. In this case report we discussed whether the observed weight loss could be a negative prognostic factor. The 56 year-old male patient, followed up with the diagnosis of schizophrenia for 20 years, had persistent positive and negative symptoms despite concurrent use of different antiypsychotics. He was diagnosed with treatment-resistant schizophrenia and started on clozapine with dose titration to 500 mg/day over 3 months. He was observed to have lost 17.6% of his initial body weight after 7 months of therapy. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score of the patient did not change significantly. There are a few case reports in the literature on weight loss during clozapine therapy. Some proposed that the weight loss could be a sign of weak response to treatment which is based on the observation that the clinical response might be poor when there is a weight loss and no change in blood triglyceride levels is observed with the treatment. There is a need for more case-control and preclinical studies to explain the mechanisms underlying weight loss and weak response to clozapine therapy in schizophrenia.