AUTHOR=Qiu Yuying , Dong Yeqing , Sun Wei , Li Gang , Li Mei Juan , Zhao Yongping , Jiang Changyong , Li Jie 

TITLE=Metabolic biomarkers of risperidone-induced weight gain in drug-naïve patients with schizophrenia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1144873

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1144873

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Abstract
Background: Risperidone is a commonly prescribed antipsychotic drug with a potential side effect of weight gain. However, the pathophysiological mechanism is still poorly understood. Here, we sought to identify potential biomarkers of risperidone-induced weight gain by using a targeted metabolomics approach.
Methods: We enrolled 30 subjects who received risperidone monotherapy for 8 weeks from a prospective longitudinal cohort study for drug-naïve schizophrenia patients. Plasma metabolites were measured by targeted metabolomics Biocrates MxP® Quant 500 Kit at baseline and 8-week follow-up.
Results: After 8 weeks of risperidone treatment, the levels of 48 differential metabolites were up-regulated, including lysophosphatidylcholines (2), phosphatidylcholines (PC) (8), cholesterylesters (CE) (3), and triglycerides (35), while 6 differential metabolites namely PC aa C38:6, methionine (Met), α-aminobutyric acid (AABA), TrpBetaine, CE (22:6) and Taurocholic acid (TCA) were down-regulated. Interestingly, the reduction of PC aa C38:6, AABA and CE (22:6) was linearly related with increased BMI. Further multiple regression analysis showed that the changes of PC aa C38:6 and AABA were independent contributors of increased BMI. In addition, baseline levels of PC aa C36:5, CE (20:5) and AABA had positive relationships with the change of BMI.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate phosphatidylcholines and amino acids may serve as biomarkers for risperidone-induced weight gain