Circadian patterns of hallucinatory experiences in patients with schizophrenia: Potentials for chrono-pharmacology

The objective of this study was to investigate possible circadian pattern of psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, which could be reflected on the dosing schedule/regimen, i.e. chrono-pharmacology. Patients with schizophrenia (ICD-10) who reported having auditory hallucination, receiving monotherapy with risperidone, olanzapine or paliperidone for at least two weeks were included. The subjects were provided a diary and asked to record the time and duration of auditory hallucinations during the eight time periods (i.e. 00:00–03:00, 03:00–06:00, 06:00–09:00, 09:00–12:00, 12:00–15:00, 15:00–18:00, 18:00–21:00, and 21:00–24:00). In the diary, times of medication doses and sleep were also recorded. Time and degree of peak and trough dopamine D2 receptor blockade with antipsychotics were estimated from 2 sparsely collected plasma drug concentrations. The prevalence and duration of auditory hallucinations were statistically examined among the eight time periods, respectively. Forty-nine patients participated in this study (mean ± SD age, 50.7 ± 14.8 years; 36 men (73.5%); 34 inpatients (69.4%)). Auditory hallucinations occurred most frequently and lasted for the longest duration in the period of 18:00–21:00 (75.5% (37/49) and 1.37 ± 1.67 h). This happened despite the fact that the difference in D2 receptor occupancy between the peak and trough was less than 2%, indicating a stable drug delivery. Since the dopamine D2 receptor blockade ...
Source: Journal of Psychiatric Research - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research