Objective: There is some evidence showing gender based differences in the side effects of atypical antipsychotic drugs. The aim of this study was to determine the differences between lithium, quetiapine and olanzapine with regard to their effects on metabolic variables in bipolar disorder and to assess the findings in terms of gender differences.
Method: Twenty-eight female and 29 male cases diagnosed with bipolar disorder type I according to the DSM-IV, taking lithium or quetiapine or quetiapine+lithium or olanzapine or olanzapine+lithium, were evaluated consecutively. For evaluation, being in a remission period was set as a criterion for these cases. Patient interviews were carried out with SCID-I and SKIP-TURK. Blood samples were taken from the patients in order to determine PRL, blood lipids and HbA1c levels.
Results: Mean age, mean age of onset, number of manic, depressive, and total episodes, functionality, and PRL levels were similar between female and male patients. BMI, HbA1c, cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL levels are found to be similar between the two groups. Both in female and male patients, no difference was found between the lithium, quetiapine and quetiapine+lithium and the olanzapine and olanzapine+lithium groups in terms of BMI, HbA1c, cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL and HDL levels. The only difference (although not significant) among the three groups was the level of cholesterol in women treated with lithium, which was found to be lower than in the other two groups.
Conclusions: This insignificant difference was found while the clinical properties and PRL levels were similar among the lithium, quetiapine and quetiapine+lithium and the olanzapine and olanzapine+lithium groups. Future studies with a specific focus on this topic are needed in order to have a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of gender differences.