Abstract
Serum concentrations of zuclopenthixol were determined in a group of 20 patients treated with a depot preparation, zuclopenthixol decanoate in Viscoleo. Clinical assessments according to a Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale, Comprehensive Psychological Rating Scale (CPRS), 16-item subscale for schizophrenia, and the UKU side effect scale were performed on 3 consecutive days of injection. The serum concentrations showed a limited individual variation and a high and significant correlation between dose and serum concentration. One patient had a particularly high serum concentration of zuclopenthixol. This patient also had an elevated concentration of the N-dealkyl metabolite, but a low concentration of the sulphoxide. For serum concentrations versus clinical state and side effects some significant correlations were found. All correlations were positive, which means that the higher the serum concentration the poorer the clinical state of the patient. We think that this probably reflects a common clinical pattern of increasing the dose, when the antipsychotic response is unsatisfactory. The study also showed that for moderately ill patients, who were given the optimum dose of drug, the subgroup of patients not experiencing side effects had significantly lower serum concentrations than the subgroup with side effects.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aaes-Jørgensen T (1980) Specific high-performance liquid chromatographic method for estimation of cis(Z)- and trans(E)-isomers of clopenthixol and a N-dealkyl metabolite. J Chromatogr 183:239–245
Aaes-Jørgensen T, Gravem A, Jørgensen A (1981) Serum levels of the isomers of clopenthixol in patients given cis(Z)-clopenthixol or cis(Z)/trans(E)-clopenthixol. Acta Psychiatr Scand 64 suppl. 294:70–77
Aaes-Jørgensen T, Kirk L, Petersen E, Danneskiold-Samsøe P, Jørgensen A (1983) Serum concentrations of the isomers of clopenthixol and a metabolite in patients given cis(Z)-clopenthixol decanoate in Viscoleo. Psychopharmacology 81:68–72
Bjørndal F, Aaes-Jørgensen T (1982) Manibehandling med cis(Z)-clopenthixol (Cisordinol®, Clopixol®). Nord Psykiatr Tidsskr 36:321–324
Bjørndal F, Aaes-Jørgensen T (1984) Serumkoncentrationer ved akutte paranoide psykoser behandlet med cis(Z)-clopenthixol. Nord Psychiatr Tidsskr 38:229–233
Fredricson Overø K (1980) A specific fluorimetric method for assay of drug levels in serum of patients treated with clopenthixol decanoate injections. Acta Psychiatr Scand 61 suppl. 279:92–103
Hansen LB, Larsen N-E, Gulmann N (1982) Dose-response relationships of perphenazine in the treatment of acute psychoses. Psychopharmacology 78:112–115
Jørgensen A, Fredricson Overø K (1980) Clopenthixol and flupentixol depot preparations in outpatient schizophrenics. III. Serum levels. Acta Psychiatr Scand 61 suppl. 279:41–54
Jørgensen A (1985) Metabolism and pharmacokinetics of antipsychotic drugs. In: Bridges JW, Chasseaud LF (eds) Progress in drug metabolism, vol 9, Taylor & Francis Ltd., London (in press)
Kendall MG, Stuart A (1973) The advanced theory of statistics, vol 2. Charles Griffin & Co. Ltd., London
Kirk L, Bilde A, Stauning JAa, Ahrensburg B, Petersen E, Jørgensen A (1984) Serum concentrations of cis(Z)-flupentixol in patients under maintenance treatment with cis(Z)-flupentixol decanoate. Nord Psykiatr Tidsskr 38:493–495
Lingjærde O, Ahlfors UG, Bech P, Dencker SJ, Elgen K (1984) Side effects of neuroleptics: A Scandinavian cross-sectional study with a new comprehensive side-effect rating scale. Poster presented at the 14th C.I.N.P. congress in Florence, Italy
Morselli PL (1981) Clinical significance of neuroleptic plasma level monitoring. In: Usdin E, Dahl SG, Gram LF, Lingjærde O (eds) Clinical pharmacology in psychiatry. Neuroleptic and antidepressant research. MacMillan Pub. Ltd., London, pp 199–209
Åsberg M, Montgomery SA, Perris C, Schalling D, Sedvall G (1978) A comprehensive psychopathological rating scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand 57, suppl. 271:5–27
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jørgensen, A., Aaes-Jørgensen, T., Gravem, A. et al. Zuclopenthixol decanoate in schizophrenia: Serum levels and clinical state. Psychopharmacology 87, 364–367 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00432722
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00432722