A review of the evidence for the use of metformin in the treatment of metabolic syndrome caused by antipsychotics.

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric patients requiring therapy with antipsychotics have a greater incidence of becoming overweight or obese compared with the general population. Many of these patients are often treated with second-generation (atypical) antipsychotics (SGAs), which are associated with weight gain, dyslipidaemia, and other metabolic derangements. The most important and first line of treatment for the metabolic syndrome is lifestyle changes including diet and exercise. However, other approaches like the use of medication (e.g. Metformin) have been also used, mainly when the lifestyle changes are difficult to achieve. Therefore, the treatment of antipsychotic-induced weight gain with metformin may be an option after the lifestyle and dietary changes fail. The use of metformin is still experimental and off license regarding the treatment of metabolic syndrome in Psychiatric patients, however we wished to assess the evidence for its use.

METHODS: Our study is a literature based research. For our research we reviewed 12 Pubmed published articles from 2006 to 2013.

CONCLUSION: Metformin have been reported to counteract effectively antipsychotic-induced body weight gain and has been demonstrated to improve glycaemic control and promote a moderate weight loss in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. Metformin use appears to be a benefit when started early in the course of treatment and mostly in young adults newly exposed to antipsychotic drugs.