Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective To investigate the correlation between serum concentration of aripiprazole and its clinical efficacy in the treatment of children and adolescent patients with schizophrenia. Methods Twenty-seven children and adolescent patients with schizophrenia received oral non-fixed dosage of aripiprazole for eight weeks. The serum concentration of aripiprazole was determined with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The psychotic symptoms of patients were evaluated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the adverse reactions were assessed with Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS). Results There was no correlation between the serum concentration of aripiprazole and the reduction rate of PANSS scores at the end of first week (r = 0.201, P > 0.05). A trend towards to positive correlation between the serum concentration of aripiprazole and the reduction rate of PANSS scores was found at the end of second week (r = 0.352, P = 0.055), and significant correlations were observed at the end of both fourth and eighth weeks (r > 0.503, P < 0.05). No relationship was found between the oral dosage of aripiprazole and the clinical efficacy. The mean concentration of aripiprazole in effective group was higher than that of ineffective group. The lowest effective concentration of aripiprazole was 285.2 ng/ml and the concentration threshold occurring side effects was 440 ng/ml. Conclusion The serum concentration of aripiprazole is correlated with its clinical efficacy in the treatment of children and adolescent patients with schizophrenia, and the suitable concentration range is 285.2~440 ng/ml.

schizophrenia; children and adolescent patients; aripiprazole; serum concentration; clinical efficacy