WEIGHT-GAIN - A SIDE-EFFECT OF ZOTEPINE ( NIPOLEPT(R))

During our clinical experience with the new neuroleptic drug zotepine we saw some cases of marked weight gain. This retrospective chart revi ew of 110 cases consecutively admitted with the ICD-10 diagnosis of sc hizophrenia, schizoaffective or delusional disorder (F20-F25) in 1991 and 1992 was aimed at showing whether the weight gain is due to accide ntal observations or must be considered a side effect of this new drug . The data analysis of all cases treated longer than 2 weeks with a ne uroleptic revealed that cases treated with zotepine showed a significa nt weight gain (3.6 kg) compared to those receiving the ''classic'' ne uroleptics (1.3 kg). A possible link to the pharmacological profile of zotepine (high D-2/HT2 affinity with antagonistic effect) is discusse d.