Quetiapine Related Neurochemical Changes as Measured by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Schizophrenia

April 27, 2009 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

Quetiapine Related Neurochemical Changes as Measured by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Patients With Schizophrenia

we aim to examine whether a representative atypical antipsychotic, quetiapine, has different effects from conventional antipsychotics on the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) markers in schizophrenia patients.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

The impact of medications on MRS changes in brain of schizophrenia patients have rarely been studied through a well-controlled study. Most of the MRS studies in schizophrenia patients are cross-sectional and uncontrolled and devoid of any comparison between effects of different drugs. To date, only limited research has explored this issue and the results are conflicting. These conflicting results may be related to small sample size, different patient population and design in these studies. Thus, further studies are warranted. Besides, with the advent of new generation atypical antipsychotics, it will be important to know whether atypical antipsychotics exert different effects on neurons from conventional antipsychotics. If neuronal activity can be improved by atypical antipsychotics, the findings will have great clinical implications.

Fifteen patients in the experimental group will receive MRS examinations (including bilateral frontal and temporal area) in two phases: baseline (when they are on a conventional antipsychotic) and 4 weeks after shifting from that conventional antipsychotic to quetiapine. Another 15 schizophrenia patients receiving conventional antipsychotics will serve as the control group. The control group will receive the MRS examinations twice (baseline and 4 weeks later) without change of medications. In each phase, every patient will also receive the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) assessment. The changes of the MRS markers will be analyzed and compared, both within and between the 2 groups, and their correlations with the PANSS scores will be explored.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Taipei, Taiwan, 100
        • Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

20 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Provision of written informed consent
  2. A diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)
  3. Females or males aged > 20 and < 65 years
  4. Female patients of childbearing potential must be using a reliable method of contraception and have a negative urine human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) test at enrolment
  5. Able to understand and comply with the requirements of the study
  6. Undergoing treatment with a conventional antipsychotic drug and is clinically stable

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Pregnancy or lactation
  2. Any DSM-IV Axis I disorder not defined in the inclusion criteria
  3. Patients who, in the opinion of the investigator, pose an imminent risk of suicide or a danger to self or others
  4. Known intolerance or lack of response to quetiapine, as judged by the investigator
  5. Use of any of the following cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibitors in the 14 days preceding enrolment including but not limited to: ketoconazole, itraconazole, fluconazole, erythromycin, clarithromycin, troleandomycin, indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, fluvoxamine and saquinavir
  6. Use of any of the following cytochrome P450 inducers in the 14 days preceding enrollment including but not limited to: phenytoin, carbamazepine, barbiturates, rifampicin, St. John's Wort, and glucocorticoids
  7. Administration of a depot antipsychotic injection within one dosing interval (for the depot) before randomisation
  8. Substance or alcohol dependence at enrolment (except dependence in full remission, and except for caffeine or nicotine dependence), as defined by DSM-IV criteria
  9. Opiates, amphetamine, barbiturate, cocaine, cannabis, or hallucinogen abuse by DSM-IV criteria within 4 weeks prior to enrolment
  10. Medical conditions that would affect absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion of study treatment as judged by the investigator
  11. Involvement in the planning and conduct of the study
  12. Previous enrolment or randomisation of treatment in the present study.
  13. Participation in another drug trial within 4 weeks prior enrolment into this study or longer in accordance with local requirements
  14. Subjects with metal prosthesis such as cardiac valves etc
  15. Severe neurological co-morbidity such as stroke, encephalopathy etc or medical conditions that will compromise on the safety of patients such as acute myocardial infarction, systemic infections etc as judged by the investigator

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1. quetiapine
quetiapine would replace the original conventional antipsychotic agent
quetiapine (with equivalent dose to original antipsychotic agent) would replace the original antipsychotic agent for 28 days
Other Names:
  • seroquel
No Intervention: 2. conventional antipsychotics
keep the original conventional antipsychotic agent for 28 days
Other Names:
  • typical antipsychotics

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The change from baseline in neurochemical peak area ratios (NAA/CRE, NAA/CHO, CHO/CRE) at the end of study
Time Frame: baseline and 28 th day
baseline and 28 th day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
changes from baseline in PANSS
Time Frame: baseline and 28th day
baseline and 28th day

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tzung-Jeng Hwang, MD, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 24, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 24, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

November 25, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 29, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 27, 2009

Last Verified

April 1, 2009

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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