Metabolic Impairments Precede Changes in Hunger and Food Intake Following Short-Term Administration of Second-Generation Antipsychotics.

The second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are associated with weight gain and an increased incidence of metabolic diseases. The metabolic impairments are assumed a consequence of increased body adiposity secondary to central nervous system-associated increases in food intake. We have previously reported that, independent of weight gain, 9 days of olanzapine administration to control subjects is associated with insulin resistance and increases in postprandial levels of insulin and glucagon-like peptide 1 to a mixed meal challenge. This current report describes previously unpublished data on the effects of the SGAs olanzapine and aripiprazole compared with placebo on detailed hunger and satiety responses over the 12-day inpatient evaluation as well as postprandial ghrelin and leptin responses prior to and following administration of the 2 SGAs. We found no changes in hunger, fullness, or in the orexigenic hormone ghrelin or satiety hormone leptin, consistent with our previous report indicating no change in weight during this study. The results indicate that the SGAs are associated with metabolic changes prior to changes in hunger, satiety, and food intake, and this temporal separation suggests that there are differential mechanisms mediating SGA-associated changes in metabolism and food intake.