Berberine for antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: abridged secondary publication
MY Chan1, SC Man1, M Lam2, WH Lai2, ZS Qin1, MKR Ng3, CK Lee3, YHE Chen4, HME Lee4, LY Liu5, HK Wong1, ZJ Zhang1
1 School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 Department of Adult Psychiatry, Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
3 Department of Psychiatry, Kowloon Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
4 Department of Psychiatry, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
5 Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia spectrum disorders may induce metabolic syndrome.
- Compared with placebo, berberine adjunctive treatment led to substantial reductions in body weight, body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, and glycated haemoglobin at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, or both (all P<0.05). The severity of psychotic and movement symptoms did not change in either group during the course of treatment. No serious adverse events were reported.
- As an adjuvant, berberine is safe and effective in terms of reducing antipsychotic-associated weight gain and improving metabolic syndrome, without exacerbating psychotic symptoms or inducing other adverse effects.