Pioglitazone as a Treatment for Lipid and Glucose Abnormalities In Patients With Schizophrenia

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of pioglitazone added to weight-lifestyle intervention vs. placebo plus lifestyle intervention on reversing or reducing impaired or abnormal triglycerides, HDL and glucose metabolism in schizophrenics treated with first or second-generation antipsychotics.. Another aim is to examine the effects of impaired glucose metabolism on verbal memory and other cognitive function in schizophrenic patients treated with these medications and the relationship to improvements in impaired glucose metabolism to impairments in cognitive function. Clozapine and olanzapine, and some other first or second-generation antipsychotics effective for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, have been reported to be associated with increased incidence of diabetic type metabolic abnormalities, decreases in insulin sensitivity, and abnormal glucose tolerance tests. This can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes and also abnormal lipid metabolic levels which can lead to atherosclerotic changes and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and other diabetes related complications. Drug treatments which could reduce or correct these diabetic metabolic changes would permit many patients to continue to receive the benefits of these antipsychotic medications with reduced drug-induced comorbidity. Previous research using non-psychotic subjects has shown that diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance are associated with cognitive impairments, especially in verbal memory, and provides a rationale for testing whether corrections of impaired glucose metabolism are associated with cognitive improvements in schizophrenic patients.