Korean J Psychopharmacol.  2007 Sep;18(5):299-307.

The Relationship between the Antipsychotics-Induced Weight Gain and the Dopamine D2, D3, and D4 Receptor Gene Polymorphisms in Korean Schizophrenic Patients

• Kim HC
• Jung SW
• Kim DK

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Excessive weight gain is often observed during chronic administration of antipsychotic drugs. Several lines of evidences implicate an important role for the dopamine D2 receptor in the regulation of food intake and energy metabolism. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the antipsychotics-induced weight gain and the polymorphisms in the dopamine D2, D3, and D4 receptor genes (DRD2, DRD33, and DRD4, respectively).
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective chart review of 200 consecutively hospitalized patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia (DSM-IV) treated with various antipsychotics (94% atypical antipsychotics) at Bugok National Hospital, Korea. The patients were divided into two groups, weight gainers (weight gain=5%) and non-gainers (weight gain <5%) by percentile change of body weight at discharge compared to body weight at admission. We investigated the differences of the Ser311Cys polymorphism in the DRD2, the Ser9Gly polymorphism in the DRD3, and the exon III 48 bp repeat polymorphism in the DRD4 between weight gainers and non-gainers.
RESULTS
Among the 200 total patients of 200, 73 (36.5%) were categorized as weight gainers. There were no significant differences were observed in the frequencies of DRD2 and DRD4 alleles and genotypes between the weight gainers and non-gainers. However, the weight gainers were associated with carriers of the Gly allele (versus Ser allele) in the Ser9Gly polymorphism of the DRD3 (OR=1.699; 95% CI=1.075~-2.686; p=0.023) and associated with carriers of the Gly/Gly genotype (versus the Ser/Ser genotype) in the Ser9Gly polymorphism of the DRD3 (OR=3.328; 95% CI=1.305~-8.488; p=0.012).
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that the Ser9Gly polymorphism of thein DRD3 may have an effect on the mechanism of antipsychotics-induced weight gain in patients with schizophrenia. Further research are needed to replicate these results.

Keyword

Schizophrenia; Antipsychotic agents; Weight gain; Dopamine receptors; Genetic polymorphism

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Antipsychotic Agents
Body Weight
Diagnosis
Dopamine*
Eating
Energy Metabolism
Exons
Genotype
Humans
Korea
Polymorphism, Genetic
Receptors, Dopamine
Receptors, Dopamine D2
Retrospective Studies
Schizophrenia
Weight Gain*
Antipsychotic Agents
Dopamine
Receptors, Dopamine
Receptors, Dopamine D2